Brandjack News

By Quentin Langley

Heineken is having to deal with rumours that it has been sponsoring dog-fighting. Quite sensibly, Heineken has fallen short of an absolute denial. It is a large company operating in many, very different, markets. Heineken is investigating the charges and has condemned dog-fighting, but it is not easy for such a large company to ascertain that none of its managers has given money to such a cause.

The right approach is to investigate, promise to report back and – critically in any social media driven crisis – respond individually to each person who comments on the issue. While the photographs could have been photoshopped, this is not as clear as in the #seriouslymcdonalds hoax, in which it was suggested that McDonalds was charging higher prices to African American customers. Heineken has promised to investigate, but has stopped responding individually to people who raise the issue on its website.

This, obviously, raises wider issues. Heineken apparently does sponsor bull-fighting, a sport not only accepted in some parts of the world, but culturally dominant. Your correspondent has witnessed a town in southern France which was almost empty while the bull-fight was taking place, packed during the lunchtime break, and empty again when the fighting resumed. Incidentally, I observed not one person protesting the sport, when in Britain or the US protesters would have massively outnumbered spectators.

The internet has brought into the open rumours which have, in some cases, persisted for years. Procter & Gamble has long been subject to the rumour that it is a company run by Satanists. While such a notion seems little short of insane, it continues to circulate, but it did not begin with digital channels. This rumour has long spread through social networks, including evangelical churches in West Africa and the southern United States.