Challenge
A company that creates and sells frozen fruit beverages throughout the United States had grown to be the top provider of 100% juice slush to school cafeterias nationwide. Its product is sold in 35 states and 10 of the top 40 public schools in the nation. In 2006, a competitor in the frozen juice drink business filed suit alleging that this client was misrepresenting the content of its product as 100% juice. By casting doubt on the nutritional benefits of the company’s product, this action presented a serious threat to the company's school business.

The beverage maker's legal counsel reached out to O’Neill and Associates for public relations services to protect the company’s reputation while they mounted the legal defense.

Solution
Working in conjunction with legal counsel, O’Neill and Associates supplied the beverage maker with public relations services and strategic counsel to combat the accusations. Because of the potential media interest, O’Neill and Associates worked to control the messages surrounding the case so that a class action lawsuit would be prevented, advising the company to proactively respond by disgorging all of its products and conducting quality tests. Because of this effort, the company was able to honestly communicate with its customers that it had nothing to hide. The beverage maker had been using two manufacturers: one based on each United States coast. Tests from the West Coast manufacturer revealed that the product was 100% fruit juice, whereas tests from the East Coast manufacturer revealed less than 100% fruit juice product. Accordingly, O’Neill and Associates advised the company to contact the Food and Drug Administration and its distributors to notify them of this issue and to report the faulty manufacturer.

Lastly, O’Neill and Associates proactively prepared the company for media inquireies regarding the lawsuit by identifying and preparing a spokesperson, developing talking points and role playing Q&A of likely media questions. Lastly, O’Neill and Associates drafted a letter for the beverage maker to send to its customers, notifying them of its regret for the accidental mislabeling and explaining its effort to correct the situation.

Results
Because of O’Neill and Associates’ efforts, the company suffered no loss in any business and fared well in the media’s representation of this issue.

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