Sec Bowl Franchise
Image credit to Tempo

When news travels at lightning speed on social media, the way a company handles an issue can make all the difference. Sec Bowl, a popular restaurant chain known for its salted egg chicken, recently found itself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

Codeblu, a well-known food vlogger on TikTok, revealed in a video that an employee at Sec Bowl’s Kuningan outlet was washing cooking utensils in the toilet. 

With his 1.3 million followers, Codeblu’s video quickly went viral, garnering over 4.5 million views, 89,400 likes and 20,000 shares within a day. Understandably, the public was horrified, and customers were quick to express their disgust and concern about the restaurant’s hygiene practices.

Sec Bowl’s response was an exercise in effective crisis management. To begin with, Sec Bowl’s founder, Rius Vernandes took ownership of the incident. CEO visibility is of utmost importance during crisis-like situations.

Vernades did so through a statement, published on their social media channels, where he ticked all the boxes in the classic 3Rs of Crisis Communications.

The 3Rs, to those unfamiliar with them are Regret, Reason and Remedy. These three elements, articulated well, demonstrate that a company facing a crisis owns up to the effects of the situation (regret), explains what happened (Reason) and what it is doing to ensure that something like this would not happen again (Remedy).

Below is a breakdown of how Vernandes delivered his 3Rs:

  • Regret: Rius Vernandes, promptly expressed regret over the situation. He acknowledged the issue of improper hygiene practices without making excuses or deflecting blame, showing sincerity and empathy towards the customers’ concerns.
  • Reason: Sec Bowl openly shared the results of their internal investigation, revealing that a staff member had violated the company’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). By providing a reason, Sec Bowl addressed public concern and offered a clear understanding of what went wrong.
  • Remedy: Sec Bowl took immediate action by dismissing the staff member involved, permanently closing the Kuningan outlet, and committing to review and enhance their hygiene protocols across all outlets. They also extended support to affected customers by covering potential medical expenses and establishing a dedicated customer care line.

Sec Bowl’s response also showed some key elements of effective issue handling, which helped to showcase their commitment to fixing things. This includes Timeliness, by addressing the issue right away; Transparency, through openly sharing investigation findings; and Responsibility, by taking corrective measures and supporting affected customers.

As of today (Thursday, September 19), public sentiment is still mixed. While some customers are clearly disappointed and disgusted, especially with concerns about hygiene lapses possibly happening at other outlets, the negative sentiment is not unanimous. 

Some people instead praised the owner’s response, expressing continued support and optimism for the company’s future. One user even highlighted the effectiveness of the public relations strategy, noting that the company did not deny the issue and took appropriate measures.

While this incident could be a setback for Sec Bowl, the company’s commitment to be transparent and take corrective action managed to win back some goodwill and support. By focusing on improving their systems and keeping communication open with customers, Sec Bowl has a chance to turn this crisis into a learning and growth opportunity.

So, good job, Sec Bowl.

Written by Ashila Nafisaputri, Senior Associate