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Chapter 505 Its Show

A public relations crisis was transformed into a super show that boosted the brand image through a flash sale.

While there have been media reports about Wawa's product complaints, all the focus has been on the flash sale platform itself.

"Someone is deliberately manipulating the situation to direct the conflict towards our flash sale platform."

Judging from the media's reporting, the entire flash sale community realized that this was a conspiracy targeting flash sales.

Unlike Walmart, Wawa is a typical regional chain store, with its business mainly concentrated in Pennsylvania and a few surrounding areas.

According to the normal logic of public opinion dissemination, even if consumers react strongly to the quality of its products, the scope of public opinion influence should be mainly limited to Pennsylvania due to the brand's own regional influence.

But look at the media outlets that used the Wawa incident for negative publicity—how many of them are local media?

Less than 20% of the media coverage is from Pennsylvania; the rest comes from other parts of the United States, including mainstream media like the Chicago Post, which has influence throughout the East Coast.

This cross-regional and large-scale media participation clearly exceeds the scope of public opinion dissemination that should exist for regional product complaint incidents.

Moreover, the content of the reports was also very problematic. In almost all the reports, the specific description of the Wawa store involved was only a few words, and some reports did not even mention the name Wawa.

Most of the content raises questions about food safety and the flash sale platform.

The attempt was to create a negative perception that flash sale platforms were negligent in their oversight, leading to problematic products entering the market.

Since the incident has already occurred, immediate rectification will certainly be effective, but consumers will not be able to let go of their grievances.

Self-interest is what lasts forever.

Only when consumers see tangible benefits will they feel more confident making purchases on flash sale platforms.

It might even make them hope that the products they buy will be defective, because the benefits are right in front of them and there have been precedents.

Another point is that Ernst wants to use the Wawa incident as a warning to all collaborators, telling them that they'd better not have any ulterior motives, or they won't be able to bear the consequences.

"The public opinion outside has completely exploded. All the media are reporting on our compensation plan, and the public response has far exceeded expectations," Afeier said excitedly to Ernst, holding the latest media report summary.

When he said to let the bullets fly for a while, Afei didn't understand. It turns out he was playing a game of chess.

Ernst picked up the newspaper in front of him; the New York Times had a striking headline with just two words: "Responsibility."

"No medical certificates, purchase receipts, or evidence of product issues are required. As long as consumers have placed an order at the Wawa store on the flash sale platform, they can get a full refund and receive compensation of three times the order amount."

"The compensation plan offered by the flash sale platform not only covers all orders, but also far exceeds the statutory standards stipulated by relevant U.S. laws."

"From a legal perspective, this practice by flash sale platforms is tantamount to voluntarily relinquishing the legal right of businesses to defend themselves. According to the relevant provisions of the U.S. Model Punitive Damages Act, even if a merchant is directly responsible for a product problem, consumers who claim punitive damages must bear the burden of proof and provide sufficient evidence to prove that the merchant was at fault and the losses they suffered."

"In similar commercial disputes in the past, we have seen too many cases in which consumers have failed to protect their rights because they have difficulty providing evidence and are unable to fight against large companies with professional legal teams."

"According to statistics, in the thousands of consumer appeals concerning food quality issues that occur in the United States each year, 99.9% of the cases end with the defendant winning."

"But the actions of the flash sale platform this time have completely broken this conventional understanding, showing us the conscience, responsibility and social commitment that a large Internet company should have."

"Faced with consumer questions, the flash sale platform did not choose conventional explanations, evasions, or legal confrontations. Instead, it responded to consumer demands with the most direct and forceful actions. This approach of not arguing or sophistry, but letting actions speak for themselves, has won everyone's respect."

Ernst then picked up the Philadelphia Inquirer, one of Pennsylvania's largest-circulation newspapers.

Business Conscience in the Digital Age

"As the location of this event, the entire nation of Pennsylvania is full of praise for the flash sale."

A reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed several consumers who received compensation. One local teacher, who was using the flash sale platform for the first time and only received $28.9 in compensation, said in an interview, "For me, it's not about the amount of compensation."

"$28.9 is sometimes not even enough to cover the cost of a typical family dinner, but the way the flash sale platform treated me made me feel respected like never before. It made me truly feel that, as a consumer, my rights were valued and protected by the platform."

Another consumer who received thousands of dollars in compensation showed even stronger emotional identification and brand loyalty: "After this incident, I have become a loyal customer of the flash sale platform. In the future, unless the flash sale platform cannot provide me with the goods or services I need, I will never choose another shopping platform."

"The issues with Wawa's products this time are more about quality defects such as cutting corners and selling near-expiry products. Strictly speaking, they can't even be considered food safety issues. But the way they did it is really unbelievable and makes me trust the platform completely."

Finally, the Philadelphia Inquirer concluded, "While many companies are still debating whether the internet needs rules, Flash Sale has already provided the answer through its actions."

Compared to the media, the comments online were much more interesting. Ernst took the summary of public opinion compiled by his secretary from Affiliate's hand and laughed heartily as he read it.

"Yesterday you were complaining that the flash sale delivery took more than an hour, and today you've slapped yourself in the face. How dare you complain about them?"

"No problem, I have to support it. I received the underwear I bought on flash sale today, and then I wore it out for a walk."

"So you were only wearing your underwear?"

"It's still a T-shape."

"cool!"

Besides these funny ones, a Philadelphia netizen shared a picture: "A $498 shopping credit has arrived. I didn't even need to apply. I logged into the flash sale page and found that the system had directly issued it to my account. And there's no time limit; it's permanent."

"I'm so envious. Is it too late for me to move out of Pennsylvania now?"

"Damn it, are all the businesses in San Francisco trash? Can't any of them be as 'shady' as Wawa? You guys need to step up! If you don't make mistakes, where else can we get this kind of free money with a three-fold refund?" Another San Francisco netizen complained, sparking a chain reaction of comments from netizens around the world.

Los Angeles netizens echoed this sentiment: "You unscrupulous businessmen, you need to work harder! Don't lose to those guys on the East Coast! Don't bring shame to the word 'capitalist'!"

"You guys are still not satisfied? We don't even have flash sales here."

"Which flash sale is it, bro?"

Alaska.

"Damn, even savages know how to use computers these days?"

"Has anyone discovered any problematic, unscrupulous stores in their area? Tell me immediately, I'll quit my job, sell my house, and fly over to place the order."

"We do have a store here that seems to have problems," a netizen from Wisconsin replied. "Their food is always made with less ingredients than advertised, and they've also been complained about by other consumers for using moldy ingredients in their food."

Which store? Where exactly is it located?

"Tell me the store's name and address! I'm not going to work this lousy job anymore! If they cut corners, I can get triple compensation. If I really get food poisoning, the compensation will skyrocket! I'll be set for life!"

"It's in Milwaukee, Wisconsin," the netizen replied.

"Tell me the name of the shop! Stop keeping me in suspense!"

"Those who eat alone will have their whole family die."

"Hey bro, wanna date? I'm super handsome. If you tell me the name of the shop, I might consider dating you!"

"Don't try to disgust me, I'm straight. You can look up the Clives store in Milwaukee yourselves."

"We found it. There were indeed news reports about this store, and it had food safety issues. However, since the issues were only discovered by customers and the food was not sold, there were no further penalties."

"Are the food safety bureau members all incompetent? Don't they check other food items? The bacteria levels are definitely too high."

"Hey buddy upstairs, you're thinking too narrowly. Don't you know what collusion between officials and businessmen means?"

"Upstairs, your thinking is too narrow. Who said this shop is owned by a businessman?"

"Why can't I find this store on Flash Sale even though I've located several Milwaukee addresses?"

"I didn't say it was a merchant on a flash sale. Aren't you looking for unscrupulous stores?"

"..."

"I've already pulled up my pants, left the house, and even slapped my girlfriend who was about to climax as I left, and you're telling me this?"

"Holy crap, a computer chair can be used for that? How come I never thought of that?"

"Just a quick question: If someone spilled coffee on their supervisor's head, yelled that they were going to quit, and then calmed down and really regretted it, realizing they actually liked the job, is there any way to salvage the situation?"

Looking at the various comments online, Ernst finally felt a bit of the information age.

"So, shall we proceed to the next step?"

Ernst looked up and looked away. "Of course, since the money's already been lost, Gallup is no longer of any use."