3 days after our previous post on Whole Foods, its boycott group has grown from 23k to 28k fans. Meanwhile, two pro Whole Foods groups, “Support Whole Foods and Free Speech” and “I Support Mr. John Mackey and Whole Foods Inc” were set up; each with 3k fans.
If you say numbers alone cannot dictate who wins, maybe the killer letter can.
Flashback
This “discussion” between Fox News host (Greta Van Susteren), boycott leader (Russell Mokhiber) and CEO Mackey supporters representative (Crystal Jones) is held last Friday before all the protests started in Austin, NYC and DC.
See transcript here.
Whole Foods’ Reaction
Whole Foods has been quick to address this issue.
Letters were sent to unhappy customers almost immediately after the backlash. Health Reform Forum was put up within its website for open discussions. Positive or not, it’s always better to know what people are talking about you. Willingness to listen to public’s voice would also help Whole Foods regain rapport.
Judging from the forum postings, there seem to be more positive than negative responses. Even if the forum posts are biased as supporters are much more likely to post there, the efforts put in by Whole Foods is commendable.
We Thought All Was (Going To Be) Well Until We Saw The Killer Letter
The letter written by William Patterson, Director of CtW Investment Group was not unsupported. This is not the first time that Mackey had communicated to the public without first consulting other board of directors. Back in 2007, his ill-advised Yahoo! Finance postings had nearly ousted him out of his position.
Will Mackey be able to hold on to his position this time? Have the boycott-ers won?
We would like to hear your comments.
