About JC Penny, What went wrong, How a matter of personal perception turned into a social media crisis, JC penny's approach throughout the crisis management, Moral of the case

1. JC PENNEY’S HITLER
TEAPOT DEBACLE
 RISHITI RAO (16531022)
 NIRMAL SUTHAR (16531035)
 SHIVANGI THAKKAR (16531014)
 SIDDHI MODI (16531003)
 MANSI JARIWALA (16531006)

2. JC PENNEY
• A retail store headquartered at Plano, Texas.
• Established on April 14, 1902, by James Cash
Penney.
• The company has been an internet retailer since
1998 with streamlined catalog and distribution.
• Products include Clothing, Cosmetics, Electronics,
Footwear, Furniture, Jewellery and HOME
APPLIANCES.

3. WHAT WENT WRONG…???
 On 28th May, 2013 there was a bit controversy
over JC Penney ad, displayed on Interstate 405,
nr. Culver City, California.

4.  This ad got a lot of attention as people noticed
that the kettle bore an odd resemblance to the leader
of the Third Reich.

5. THE CRISIS STATEMENT
JC PENNEY’S HITLER
TEAPOT DEBACLE

6. HOW A MATTER OF PERSONAL
PERCEPTION TURNED INTO A SOCIAL
MEDIA CRISIS…??
•A giant picture of the
teapot landed on a JC
Penney billboard on
Interstate 407, Culver
City, Calif.
27th-28th May,
2013
•A Reddit user
Wrestles4Food submitted a
photo of this billboard over
Memorial Day Weekend.
28th May, 2013
• This user had 126
comments.
•Some comic-book version
of Hitler”
•“ A South Park version of
the Nazi dictator”
•“It’s easier to see Hitler than
the Kettle”
• The Telegraph posted a new
article “The kettle that looks
like Hitler-trouble brewing
for American retailer JC
Penney soa.li/il6S”
29th May, 2013

7. HOW DID JC PENNEY
RESPOND..??
•The billboard was
taken down.
29th May, 2013
•The $40 product
was also pulled off
the company’s
website.
30th May, 2013 • The company made it clear
that any resemblance is
completely “unintentional”, by
repeatedly tweeting the
clarification at those curious
about a Hitler connection.
4th June, 2013

8. JC PENNEY’S APPROACH
THROUGHOUT THE CRISIS
MANAGEMENT
 JC Penney decided to solve the issue through social
media as it was the route of cause.
 JC Penney was wise to not take the situation too
seriously, though they knew that it still needed to be
responded to.
 Their strategy was to develop a response tweet and
use it to respond to everyone mentioning the teapot in
relation to Adolf Hitler.

9.  @jcpenney responded to hundreds of
tweets about the evil teapot with a standard,
light-hearted message.
 Still at press time, the company din’t
respond to an e-mail and calls for comment.

10. THE OUTCOME…
 The whole debacle turned out to be a pretty good thing
for JC Penney. The teapot sold like gangbusters……
1600 teapots in one week !!!
 Some entrepreneurs who got the teapots and saw an
opportunity had taken to eBay to sell them.
 “Looks like Hitler”, said one seller who priced the available
kettles @ $249.99. “Impossible to find.”
 Others on sale had bids of $41 and $76 by the night of 5th
June, 2013.

11. OUR TAKE ON THIS CRISIS
How much responsibility did JC Penney hold?
 JC Penney had no intention of commissioning a
product that resembled Adolf Hitler. It was a bizarre
coincidence.
 In this crisis, it would clearly seem that it would fall
into the accidental cluster of SCCT (Situational
crisis communication theory).

12. JC Penney recognized this, and decided to
responded to the situation aptly. They employed
the SCCT crisis response strategy of diminish,
but not with an excuse or justification.
 Instead they used humor and misdirection to
highlight the ridiculousness of the situation. By
treating the situation lightly it allowed the
affected stakeholders to realize the silliness of the
circumstance.

13. MORAL OF THE CASE…
 A small issue like this could quickly turn into
a social media PR crisis if handled improperly.
 Be sensitive to the power of social.
 Address even small complaints from your
fans or others with grace and good.
Tell it ALL….Tell it FAST….Tell the TRUTH
!!

14. THANK YOU