No more Alberta Beef at Earl's

[nik-]

haha shows how legitimate their "convictions" were. A PR stunt that blew up in their face.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by nik-

haha shows how legitimate their "convictions" were. A PR stunt that blew up in their face.

Did you miss the part that said they'd work with Alberta farmers to ensure the beef meets their standards?

The part quoted even references the fact that they previously tried to use humane Alberta beef but their suppliers ran out.

Sounds to me like like they are sticking with their convictions but caving to pressure. Means they'll have to use two suppliers, which may not be ideal but it keeps albertans happy.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Given how they went into complete radio silence for a few days, this isn't surprising to me. Publicly reversing course is pretty much the only way they could have begun to repair the damage from a PR perspective.

too little, too late

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Did you miss the part that said they'd work with Alberta farmers to ensure the beef meets their standards?

The part quoted even references the fact that they previously tried to use humane Alberta beef but their suppliers ran out.

Sounds to me like like they are sticking with their convictions but caving to pressure. Means they'll have to use two suppliers, which may not be ideal but it keeps albertans happy.

They should have worked with Alberta farmers from the start, and could easily have found suppliers that met their convictions. But they stupidly thought that a shiny little ® would create enough positive PR to make people forget the fact that they not only dumped Canadian beef, but strongly insinuated that Canadian beef is inhumane on the way out the door. It is staggering that a company whose primary business is in Alberta did not actually consider that Albertans would not respond well to their crapping all over Alberta.

[Jordan!]

Beef Justice Warriors with the win..

BEEF IS BEEF

[Tacopuck]

We won! We won! We won!

[CaptainCrunch]

It was funny, I went to Nicks last night to have drinks with a couple of friends and the first thing I noticed was a big blackboard in front touting their Alberta Beef Connection.

Its everywhere.

Earl's F'd this up big time, and I'm betting some marketing hippy is carrying a box out the front door of Head Office with a stern "Don't y'all come back ya hear?"

Earl's handled this whole thing incredibly stupidly right from the start and this will go down as a noteworthy marketing failure with the byline "Don't piss in your primary markets"

[btimbit]

What a waste of time and money. My criteria remains the same, don't care where it comes from, it just better be good. I would have respected them more if they just stuck with a decision for more than a week

Goes back to what I was saying all along, Earl's sure isn't what it used to be

[Frequitude]

Well done fellow Alberta Beef patriots.

Yes, I totally get that my grievance in this case is hypocritical. I don't boycott McDonalds, Moxies, or most anywhere else for their beef sourcing strategies, but Earls is an Albertan and a Calgarian institution. It just felt different. So sue me.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Did you miss the part that said they'd work with Alberta farmers to ensure the beef meets their standards?

The part quoted even references the fact that they previously tried to use humane Alberta beef but their suppliers ran out.

Sounds to me like like they are sticking with their convictions but caving to pressure. Means they'll have to use two suppliers, which may not be ideal but it keeps albertans happy.

Like Resolute has been saying, Alberta Beef likely already meets or exceeds whatever their conviction is, it just doesnt come with a snazzy sticker and hip title that they can slap on their menus.

[blueski]

That's awesome, shows the power that people can have when they care enough to vote with their wallets and voice their dissatisfaction on forums like this one.

[corporatejay]

Takes a very big person to admit they were wrong. In fact, I will probably make a point of going to Earl in the coming weeks to support their decision.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Did you miss the part that said they'd work with Alberta farmers to ensure the beef meets their standards?

The part quoted even references the fact that they previously tried to use humane Alberta beef but their suppliers ran out.

Sounds to me like like they are sticking with their convictions but caving to pressure. Means they'll have to use two suppliers, which may not be ideal but it keeps albertans happy.

LOL. "Convictions"?

If they had convictions, they would have either partially sourced their beef to fill their needs originally, or else stuck with this decision consequences be damned. It is painfully obvious that this was a marketing ploy thought up by some hipster (not hippy), that could not have been more ridiculous.

The backlash, in my opinion, has much more to do with the unintended education we all received about "humane beef", and the bogus labeling systems the US allows. It's nice to find out that the Canadian regulations are much higher, and upon learning that, I am retroactively extremely disappointed with a local company not doing it's homework about buying locally, and instead jumping on a bandwagon.

So fitting that their headquarters are in Vancouver. This is like all the fans that jump on the Canucks bandwagon, only to scrape their knees jumping off, the second it's no longer cool. Earls is the Canucks of restaurants. No thanks. Don't care where you get your beef.

[Resolute 14]

Full "Earls loves Alberta" PR push on Twitter right now. Most of it rings hollow, but credit where it is due: They are offering free food at their Edmonton locations for anyone who has a Fort McMurray address on their government ID.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Locke

Like Resolute has been saying, Alberta Beef likely already meets or exceeds whatever their conviction is, it just doesnt come with a snazzy sticker and hip title that they can slap on their menus.

Originally Posted by 4X4

LOL. "Convictions"?

If they had convictions, they would have either partially sourced their beef to fill their needs originally, or else stuck with this decision consequences be damned. It is painfully obvious that this was a marketing ploy thought up by some hipster (not hippy), that could not have been more ridiculous.

The backlash, in my opinion, has much more to do with the unintended education we all received about "humane beef", and the bogus labeling systems the US allows. It's nice to find out that the Canadian regulations are much higher, and upon learning that, I am retroactively extremely disappointed with a local company not doing it's homework about buying locally, and instead jumping on a bandwagon.

So fitting that their headquarters are in Vancouver. This is like all the fans that jump on the Canucks bandwagon, only to scrape their knees jumping off, the second it's no longer cool. Earls is the Canucks of restaurants. No thanks. Don't care where you get your beef.

Are people so angry that they are willfully ignoring the information readily available in the quotes provided?

Earls worked with AB beef suppliers but were not able to meet the demands for humane beef. They chose to use a single supplier that could meet all their needs. They have now caved, but will continue to use that hip title on their menus. The decision to drop AB beef was so obviously about using a single supplier of humane beef it takes some serious willful ignorance to not see it. They did not anticipate backlash. They will now, probably at a higher cost and more complicated logistics, use humane AB beef in Alberta (or Canada).

I'm not sure how they will meet their beef demands if it wasn't possible before.

This would be really easy if it turned out that Earls never pursued humane beef in alberta, but they did, or if they went back to non-humane AB beef, but they didn't.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Are people so angry that they are willfully ignoring the information readily available in the quotes provided?

Earls worked with AB beef suppliers but were not able to meet the demands for humane beef. They chose to use a single supplier that could meet all their needs. They have now caved, but will continue to use that hip title on their menus.

I'm not sure how they will meet their beef demands if it wasn't possible before.

This would be really easy if it turned out that Earls never pursued humane beef in alberta, but they did, or if they went back to non-humane AB beef, but they didn't.

[Fuzz]

Thread title needs to be edited by adding one letter...

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Well done fellow Alberta Beef patriots.

Yes, I totally get that my grievance in this case is hypocritical. I don't boycott McDonalds, Moxies, or most anywhere else for their beef sourcing strategies, but Earls is an Albertan and a Calgarian institution. It just felt different. So sue me.

Weird choices for your examples since McDonald's widely promotes its use of Canadian Beef (not necessarily Alberta beef only), and Moxie's started in Calgary and still has its headquarters here. It's also one chain that promotes its use of Alberta Beef on its menu.

[undercoverbrother]

Makes me think of this:



You Sucked New Coke!

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Are people so angry that they are willfully ignoring the information readily available in the quotes provided?

Earls worked with AB beef suppliers but were not able to meet the demands for humane beef. They chose to use a single supplier that could meet all their needs. They have now caved, but will continue to use that hip title on their menus. The decision to drop AB beef was so obviously about using a single supplier of humane beef it takes some serious willful ignorance to not see it. They did not anticipate backlash. They will now, probably at a higher cost and more complicated logistics, use humane AB beef in Alberta (or Canada).

I'm not sure how they will meet their beef demands if it wasn't possible before.

This would be really easy if it turned out that Earls never pursued humane beef in alberta, but they did, or if they went back to non-humane AB beef, but they didn't.

Earls' concern wasn't the inability to find enough producers that could provide "humane beef". Their excuse was that they couldn't find a producer that could provide "Certified Humane®" beef. Much like Polak did yesterday, you are making an incredibly questionable assertion that the American lobby's paid trademark inherently makes something better or more humane.

They should meet their demands pretty easily, because they now realize that the "Certified Humane®" trademark is meaningless. All they need to do is claim that the Canadian farms they source from are responsible and meet Earls' corporate beliefs for ethical treatment. In short, the same thing they could have done originally.