Free Burritos Won't Solve Chipotle's E-Coli Crisis

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By: The Drum

'How 'bout a Burrito?' asked one of Chipotle's recent poster campaigns, advertising the Mexican restaurant chain's offer of a free food coupon; a shrewd promotion designed to lure back customers back in light of an E.coli outbreak that has battered the brand.

The fast-food chain is still reeling from the crisis, which saw its stock and sales plummet, but while the company claims the latter is in "recovery" it looks like it may take longer to win back the trust of its customers.

When 50 cases of E.coli where first traced back to the grill across eight states at the tail end of 2015, a wave of negative publicity followed with many former diners taking to social to voice their concern. Fresh data showing the sentiment around the brand since the outbreak has revealed that 15 per cent of fans on social have said they won't return to the diner.

Supplied to The Drum by social analytics firm Crimson Hexagon, the data has been tracking social responses to the crisis since November, when Chipotle was forced to shutter 43 of its Pacific Northwest locations.

Initially three per cent of those commenting said they "didn't care about the outbreak," while 19 per cent said they wouldn't eat at the chain again.

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