Several players from the LA Lakers fell ill and one player died after drinking Gatorade during a practice. This prompted an emergency response from Gatorade's parent company PepsiCo. PepsiCo initiated a national recall of Gatorade and launched an investigation into the cause. They also publicly apologized and provided compensation to the affected families and teams. The summary outlines PepsiCo's comprehensive crisis management plan to address the incident, assure public safety, and regain consumer trust in the Gatorade brand.

1. A crisis situation: the Gatorade Incident
(Hypothetical event)
James, Sean, Valeria

2. TIME-LINE
6:00 PM (PST) 8:00 PM (PST)

3. • MULTIPLE SICKNESSES
• 1 DEATH
LA LAKERS
During a shoot around, several
players of the LA Lakers drank
cups of Gatorade.
6:00 PM (PST)
Los Angeles, CA

4. INTERNAL
COMMUNICATION
Emergency conference
meeting w/ Board of
Directors to discuss plan of
action + possible
lawsuit/settlement
Major wide email
communication to
all PepsiCo
employees and
investors.
Emergency web
conference with
all major sports
commissioners.

5. EMERGENCY
WEB CONFERENCE
An emergency web
conference with all the
major sports commissioners
is initiated moments after
the incident.
The commissioners are asked
to discontinue the use of all
Gatorade beverage
products across their own
respective leagues.

6. CEO’s PERSONAL
APOLOGY
Dear Family,
I am personally writing to
express my deep condolences
for the loss of your child. The
PepsiCo family is extremely
sadden by this tragic event …
• Personal apology to Lakers +
families from CEO via letter
& phone
• Provide compensation for
funeral + medical
• Communicate full
responsibility for death and
illnesses

7. U.S. NATIONAL
RECALL
• Contact major buyers and
suppliers of Gatorade to
ease its distribution.
• Provide reimbursement to
buyers.
• Communicate full
responsibility for potential
loss of business.

8. PUBLIC RELATIONS
• Cut all Gatorade TV Ads
• Contact endorsees +
maintain loyalty
• Jeter, Manning, Newton,
Williams, Wade, Jordan
• Contact all partners + sponsors (clients)
• Press release during mid-crisis
• Reassure public full transparency and disclosure

9. COMPANY
PRESS CONFERENCE
• Begin with a formal apology
to players, coaches, teams
leagues, fans, and families.
• Assume full responsibility for
defective product +
incident to players.
• Communicate plan of
action: sports-wide and
national-wide recall.
• Advise consumers to avoid
drinking Gatorade beverage
until problem is resolved
• Provide details regarding the
preliminary investigation and
testing of products.
• Communicate to stakeholders
time-frame and transparency.
8:00 PM (PST)
Los Angeles, CA

10. INVESTIGATION
PROCEDURE • A rigorous investigation will
be conducted to determine
cause.
• PepsiCo will partner with the
CDC to lead the
investigation.
• Setup a website to keep
public inform on process +
details of investigation.

11. ASSUMPTIONS
1. Only contaminated factory was on western region
3. Problem in Factory X is eventually resolved
2. Other PepsiCo products are not produced in same facility

12. REDESIGNED LOOK
• New redesigned bottle with
white label on cap to signal
product safety.
• Implemented to distinguish
old recalled bottles from
newly produced safe
bottles.
• New signature Green Safe
logo on bottle cap.

13. FINAL
PRESS CONFERENCE
FDA Approved
Solution Found
Problem found



14. NEXT STEPS
•Routine testing of every batch for a year.
•Then routine testing every 6 months, then annual
•Strong emphasis on marketing
•In-store sales reps
•Release new ads regarding safety bottles
•Start a legacy fund for deceased player