本月早些時候,麥當(dāng)勞(McDonald’s)公布了第四季度業(yè)績報告,極其罕見的是,其銷售額不及預(yù)期。星巴克(Starbucks)預(yù)測今年剩余時間,公司業(yè)績增長放緩,甚至低于分析師的預(yù)測。塔克鐘(Taco Bell)的母公司百勝餐飲集團(Yum Brands)公布的第四季度銷售額同樣受到影響。
這些公司有哪些共同點?除了它們都是快餐公司這個顯而易見的共同點以外,這些公司以及其他公司都因為涉嫌支持以色列在加沙地區(qū)的軍事行動而成為攻擊目標(biāo),每家公司都表示這些抗議對公司上個季度的業(yè)績造成了嚴(yán)重影響。
自加沙地區(qū)的沖突爆發(fā)以來,世界各地的反戰(zhàn)活動家們均呼吁結(jié)束沖突,同時向他們認(rèn)為支持以色列或在社交媒體上壓制親巴勒斯坦言論的公司施壓。加沙地區(qū)的戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)的原因是10月7日,哈馬斯發(fā)動襲擊,造成1,200人死亡,有成百上千人淪為人質(zhì),后來在加沙地區(qū)演變成更大范圍的軍事沖突,已經(jīng)造成了28,000人死亡,其中包括12,000名兒童,并且遭到了聯(lián)合國國際法院(International Court of Justice)的批評。美國總統(tǒng)喬·拜登因為支持以色列遭到廣泛批評。后來,他批評以色列的反應(yīng)“過頭”,并呼吁臨時停火。
但漢堡本不應(yīng)該具有政治性。麥當(dāng)勞第4季度的業(yè)績報告顯示,其國際許可市場和企業(yè)部門的銷售額,包括中東地區(qū)在內(nèi),增長幅度只有0.7%,相比之下前一年的增幅為16.5%,“體現(xiàn)出中東戰(zhàn)爭的影響”。
在LinkedIn上發(fā)布的一封公開信中,麥當(dāng)勞總裁兼CEO克里斯·坎普欽斯基承認(rèn),中東地區(qū)的多個市場和“中東地區(qū)以外的一些市場因為戰(zhàn)爭受到了嚴(yán)重影響”,而且“相關(guān)虛假信息”影響了包括麥當(dāng)勞在內(nèi)的多個品牌。
10月,以色列一家麥當(dāng)勞連鎖餐廳向士兵捐贈數(shù)千份免費餐的照片在網(wǎng)上廣泛流傳,引發(fā)了抵制該連鎖餐廳的呼聲。在那之后,麥當(dāng)勞在中東和印尼、馬來西亞等以穆斯林為主的市場,銷售額持續(xù)下滑。
關(guān)鍵是特許經(jīng)營模式
在麥當(dāng)勞的特許經(jīng)營模式下,母公司不會嚴(yán)格控制每一家餐廳,餐廳對于經(jīng)營地點、定價、廣告、商品、招聘甚至假期等事項都有決定權(quán)。這種模式的好處意味著母公司有更多獲取資本的途徑,可以開設(shè)更多門店,而且在對特許經(jīng)營商監(jiān)督最小化的情況下可以提高品牌知名度。(在一部命名頗具諷刺意義的電影《創(chuàng)始人》(The Founder)中,從麥當(dāng)勞兄弟手中搶走了公司控制權(quán)的羅伊·克羅克曾說過,由于這種特許經(jīng)營模式,麥當(dāng)勞其實是一家房地產(chǎn)公司。)
從麥當(dāng)勞目前的處境可以看出,特許經(jīng)營模式的缺點包括失去了完整的品牌控制權(quán),并且增加了陷入法律糾紛的可能性,因為特許經(jīng)營商對餐廳的運營有很大的控制權(quán)。
羅格斯商學(xué)院(Rutgers)管理與全球商業(yè)教授阿杰爾·高爾解釋了為什么一家母公司對其特許經(jīng)營商“沒有太多控制權(quán)”,特許經(jīng)營商也可以“參與慈善等社會運動”。
高爾表示:“即使總部能有所行動,它們又能做些什么呢?”他認(rèn)為,從長遠來看,提高透明度可以幫助公司避免遭到攻擊。例如,一家母公司可以公布“其在沙特阿拉伯的特許經(jīng)營店數(shù)量,在當(dāng)?shù)毓蛡虻谋镜貑T工數(shù)量,公司為本地社區(qū)創(chuàng)造的業(yè)務(wù)、利潤、就業(yè)和福利,以及抵制的成本等。”
除此之外,他表示,在戰(zhàn)爭時期,公司經(jīng)常會調(diào)整在海外市場的布局,例如俄烏沖突爆發(fā)兩周后,麥當(dāng)勞、可口可樂(Coke)、星巴克和奈飛(Netflix)均暫停了在俄羅斯的業(yè)務(wù)。他說道,在極短時間內(nèi),“許多公司幾乎徹底退出了俄羅斯市場,這顯然會產(chǎn)生財務(wù)影響。”
客戶也沒有期待這些公司保持中立。高爾表示:“社會對企業(yè)的行為變得非常敏感。他們希望企業(yè)不止是賺錢機器。”
他表示:“如果你不表明自己的立場,其他人就會替你編造你的立場。”
與此同時,百勝餐飲因為投資了以色列初創(chuàng)公司而遭到抵制,例如支持客戶在社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)和通信應(yīng)用中訂餐的以色列公司TicTuk。在上周召開的投資者營收電話會議上,百勝餐飲的CEO大衛(wèi)·吉布斯表示,“總銷售額受到中東地區(qū)沖突的影響,公司在中東、馬來西亞和印尼等市場受到了不同程度的影響。”
星巴克也成為反戰(zhàn)活動者們針對的目標(biāo)。其上個月公布的第一季度業(yè)績報告顯示,公司的銷售額低于分析師的預(yù)期。在營收電話會議上,星巴克CEO拉克斯曼·納思瀚表示“中東地區(qū)的業(yè)務(wù)受到了負(fù)面影響”,而且“由于我們的立場遭到誤解,中東局勢也對美國的業(yè)務(wù)產(chǎn)生了影響”。星巴克執(zhí)行副總裁瑞秋·羅格里表示,她預(yù)計今年第二季度,沖突會導(dǎo)致公司業(yè)績進一步下滑。
代表星巴克部分員工的工人聯(lián)合會(Workers United)因為在社交媒體X上發(fā)布“聲援巴勒斯坦!”的帖子,被公司起訴商標(biāo)侵權(quán),隨后星巴克遭到了抵制。星巴克要求工會組織停止使用公司商標(biāo)和類似標(biāo)識。據(jù)美聯(lián)社報道,星巴克員工在未經(jīng)工會領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人授權(quán)的情況下發(fā)布了推文,推文在約40分鐘后被刪除。該工會組織的回應(yīng)是起訴星巴克,要求繼續(xù)使用星巴克的商標(biāo)名稱和標(biāo)識。
M Science的高級經(jīng)濟分析師馬修·古德曼對《財富》雜志表示,跟蹤抵制的影響“非常困難”,尤其是因為其他挑戰(zhàn)也會影響公司的業(yè)績,例如消費者支出的變化、漲價、工會和季節(jié)性飲品表現(xiàn)不佳等。他表示,公司需要“比以往任何時候都更加主動地監(jiān)控和管理公司信譽,以最大程度降低風(fēng)險,以免一些真真假假的不利信息引發(fā)消費者的抵制。
去年12月,由于員工罷工和客流量低迷,星巴克股價下跌近10%,市值縮水近120億美元。
紐約大學(xué)(New York University)從事政治經(jīng)濟研究的教授大衛(wèi)·德農(nóng)對《財富》雜志表示,社交媒體使抵制“成為日益有效的經(jīng)濟施壓工具”,抵制的組織者可以通過社交媒體“聯(lián)系數(shù)百萬原本可能并不認(rèn)識的陌生人”。
在TikTok上,抵制標(biāo)簽的觀看量和分享量多達3億次,還有其他品牌也成為抵制的對象。服裝零售品牌Zara在12月發(fā)布了一張照片,照片中有殘垣斷壁和用白布包裹的斷肢的雕像,有活動家認(rèn)為Zara此舉展現(xiàn)出它的冷漠。#boycottzara標(biāo)簽在社交平臺上的觀看量超過8,600萬次。
在歷史上,來自不同方面的抵制令公司措手不及。例如,去年百威清啤(Bud Light)邀請跨性別網(wǎng)紅迪倫·馬爾瓦尼開展的社交媒體推廣活動,遭到了保守主義者和知名人士的抵制,令該公司陷入困境。該公司稱,在隨后數(shù)月,公司在北美地區(qū)虧損了約3.95億美元。
在南非爭取廢除種族隔離制度的35年間,消費者抵制一直是運動的核心策略。直到1990年,南非才廢除種族隔離制度。抵制基本沒有影響到快餐行業(yè)。與當(dāng)前的模式一樣,在1983年至1986年期間,抵制最終導(dǎo)致英國對南非紡織品進口下降了35%。
麥當(dāng)勞、星巴克和百勝餐飲均未回應(yīng)置評請求。(財富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
本月早些時候,麥當(dāng)勞(McDonald’s)公布了第四季度業(yè)績報告,極其罕見的是,其銷售額不及預(yù)期。星巴克(Starbucks)預(yù)測今年剩余時間,公司業(yè)績增長放緩,甚至低于分析師的預(yù)測。塔克鐘(Taco Bell)的母公司百勝餐飲集團(Yum Brands)公布的第四季度銷售額同樣受到影響。
這些公司有哪些共同點?除了它們都是快餐公司這個顯而易見的共同點以外,這些公司以及其他公司都因為涉嫌支持以色列在加沙地區(qū)的軍事行動而成為攻擊目標(biāo),每家公司都表示這些抗議對公司上個季度的業(yè)績造成了嚴(yán)重影響。
自加沙地區(qū)的沖突爆發(fā)以來,世界各地的反戰(zhàn)活動家們均呼吁結(jié)束沖突,同時向他們認(rèn)為支持以色列或在社交媒體上壓制親巴勒斯坦言論的公司施壓。加沙地區(qū)的戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)的原因是10月7日,哈馬斯發(fā)動襲擊,造成1,200人死亡,有成百上千人淪為人質(zhì),后來在加沙地區(qū)演變成更大范圍的軍事沖突,已經(jīng)造成了28,000人死亡,其中包括12,000名兒童,并且遭到了聯(lián)合國國際法院(International Court of Justice)的批評。美國總統(tǒng)喬·拜登因為支持以色列遭到廣泛批評。后來,他批評以色列的反應(yīng)“過頭”,并呼吁臨時停火。
但漢堡本不應(yīng)該具有政治性。麥當(dāng)勞第4季度的業(yè)績報告顯示,其國際許可市場和企業(yè)部門的銷售額,包括中東地區(qū)在內(nèi),增長幅度只有0.7%,相比之下前一年的增幅為16.5%,“體現(xiàn)出中東戰(zhàn)爭的影響”。
在LinkedIn上發(fā)布的一封公開信中,麥當(dāng)勞總裁兼CEO克里斯·坎普欽斯基承認(rèn),中東地區(qū)的多個市場和“中東地區(qū)以外的一些市場因為戰(zhàn)爭受到了嚴(yán)重影響”,而且“相關(guān)虛假信息”影響了包括麥當(dāng)勞在內(nèi)的多個品牌。
10月,以色列一家麥當(dāng)勞連鎖餐廳向士兵捐贈數(shù)千份免費餐的照片在網(wǎng)上廣泛流傳,引發(fā)了抵制該連鎖餐廳的呼聲。在那之后,麥當(dāng)勞在中東和印尼、馬來西亞等以穆斯林為主的市場,銷售額持續(xù)下滑。
關(guān)鍵是特許經(jīng)營模式
在麥當(dāng)勞的特許經(jīng)營模式下,母公司不會嚴(yán)格控制每一家餐廳,餐廳對于經(jīng)營地點、定價、廣告、商品、招聘甚至假期等事項都有決定權(quán)。這種模式的好處意味著母公司有更多獲取資本的途徑,可以開設(shè)更多門店,而且在對特許經(jīng)營商監(jiān)督最小化的情況下可以提高品牌知名度。(在一部命名頗具諷刺意義的電影《創(chuàng)始人》(The Founder)中,從麥當(dāng)勞兄弟手中搶走了公司控制權(quán)的羅伊·克羅克曾說過,由于這種特許經(jīng)營模式,麥當(dāng)勞其實是一家房地產(chǎn)公司。)
從麥當(dāng)勞目前的處境可以看出,特許經(jīng)營模式的缺點包括失去了完整的品牌控制權(quán),并且增加了陷入法律糾紛的可能性,因為特許經(jīng)營商對餐廳的運營有很大的控制權(quán)。
羅格斯商學(xué)院(Rutgers)管理與全球商業(yè)教授阿杰爾·高爾解釋了為什么一家母公司對其特許經(jīng)營商“沒有太多控制權(quán)”,特許經(jīng)營商也可以“參與慈善等社會運動”。
高爾表示:“即使總部能有所行動,它們又能做些什么呢?”他認(rèn)為,從長遠來看,提高透明度可以幫助公司避免遭到攻擊。例如,一家母公司可以公布“其在沙特阿拉伯的特許經(jīng)營店數(shù)量,在當(dāng)?shù)毓蛡虻谋镜貑T工數(shù)量,公司為本地社區(qū)創(chuàng)造的業(yè)務(wù)、利潤、就業(yè)和福利,以及抵制的成本等。”
除此之外,他表示,在戰(zhàn)爭時期,公司經(jīng)常會調(diào)整在海外市場的布局,例如俄烏沖突爆發(fā)兩周后,麥當(dāng)勞、可口可樂(Coke)、星巴克和奈飛(Netflix)均暫停了在俄羅斯的業(yè)務(wù)。他說道,在極短時間內(nèi),“許多公司幾乎徹底退出了俄羅斯市場,這顯然會產(chǎn)生財務(wù)影響。”
客戶也沒有期待這些公司保持中立。高爾表示:“社會對企業(yè)的行為變得非常敏感。他們希望企業(yè)不止是賺錢機器。”
他表示:“如果你不表明自己的立場,其他人就會替你編造你的立場。”
與此同時,百勝餐飲因為投資了以色列初創(chuàng)公司而遭到抵制,例如支持客戶在社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)和通信應(yīng)用中訂餐的以色列公司TicTuk。在上周召開的投資者營收電話會議上,百勝餐飲的CEO大衛(wèi)·吉布斯表示,“總銷售額受到中東地區(qū)沖突的影響,公司在中東、馬來西亞和印尼等市場受到了不同程度的影響。”
星巴克也成為反戰(zhàn)活動者們針對的目標(biāo)。其上個月公布的第一季度業(yè)績報告顯示,公司的銷售額低于分析師的預(yù)期。在營收電話會議上,星巴克CEO拉克斯曼·納思瀚表示“中東地區(qū)的業(yè)務(wù)受到了負(fù)面影響”,而且“由于我們的立場遭到誤解,中東局勢也對美國的業(yè)務(wù)產(chǎn)生了影響”。星巴克執(zhí)行副總裁瑞秋·羅格里表示,她預(yù)計今年第二季度,沖突會導(dǎo)致公司業(yè)績進一步下滑。
代表星巴克部分員工的工人聯(lián)合會(Workers United)因為在社交媒體X上發(fā)布“聲援巴勒斯坦!”的帖子,被公司起訴商標(biāo)侵權(quán),隨后星巴克遭到了抵制。星巴克要求工會組織停止使用公司商標(biāo)和類似標(biāo)識。據(jù)美聯(lián)社報道,星巴克員工在未經(jīng)工會領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人授權(quán)的情況下發(fā)布了推文,推文在約40分鐘后被刪除。該工會組織的回應(yīng)是起訴星巴克,要求繼續(xù)使用星巴克的商標(biāo)名稱和標(biāo)識。
M Science的高級經(jīng)濟分析師馬修·古德曼對《財富》雜志表示,跟蹤抵制的影響“非常困難”,尤其是因為其他挑戰(zhàn)也會影響公司的業(yè)績,例如消費者支出的變化、漲價、工會和季節(jié)性飲品表現(xiàn)不佳等。他表示,公司需要“比以往任何時候都更加主動地監(jiān)控和管理公司信譽,以最大程度降低風(fēng)險,以免一些真真假假的不利信息引發(fā)消費者的抵制。
去年12月,由于員工罷工和客流量低迷,星巴克股價下跌近10%,市值縮水近120億美元。
紐約大學(xué)(New York University)從事政治經(jīng)濟研究的教授大衛(wèi)·德農(nóng)對《財富》雜志表示,社交媒體使抵制“成為日益有效的經(jīng)濟施壓工具”,抵制的組織者可以通過社交媒體“聯(lián)系數(shù)百萬原本可能并不認(rèn)識的陌生人”。
在TikTok上,抵制標(biāo)簽的觀看量和分享量多達3億次,還有其他品牌也成為抵制的對象。服裝零售品牌Zara在12月發(fā)布了一張照片,照片中有殘垣斷壁和用白布包裹的斷肢的雕像,有活動家認(rèn)為Zara此舉展現(xiàn)出它的冷漠。#boycottzara標(biāo)簽在社交平臺上的觀看量超過8,600萬次。
在歷史上,來自不同方面的抵制令公司措手不及。例如,去年百威清啤(Bud Light)邀請跨性別網(wǎng)紅迪倫·馬爾瓦尼開展的社交媒體推廣活動,遭到了保守主義者和知名人士的抵制,令該公司陷入困境。該公司稱,在隨后數(shù)月,公司在北美地區(qū)虧損了約3.95億美元。
在南非爭取廢除種族隔離制度的35年間,消費者抵制一直是運動的核心策略。直到1990年,南非才廢除種族隔離制度。抵制基本沒有影響到快餐行業(yè)。與當(dāng)前的模式一樣,在1983年至1986年期間,抵制最終導(dǎo)致英國對南非紡織品進口下降了35%。
麥當(dāng)勞、星巴克和百勝餐飲均未回應(yīng)置評請求。(財富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進龍
審校:汪皓
McDonald’s reported a rare sales miss in its-fourth quarter earnings report earlier this month. Starbucks is forecasting slower growth for the rest of the year, even lower than what analysts predicted. And Yum Brands, parent company of Taco Bell, also reported a hit to fourth-quarter sales.
What do these companies have in common? Besides the obvious—they’re fast-food proprietors—these groups and others have been targeted for their perceived support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza—and each company cited those protests as a material hit to earnings last quarter.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, anti-war activists around the world have called for an end to the conflict while pressuring companies that they claim have supported Israel or suppressed pro-Palestinian speech on social media. The war, incited by an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 and took hundreds of hostages, has escalated into a wider campaign in Gaza that has killed 28,000 people, including 12,000 children, and drawn criticism from the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, among others. President Joe Biden, widely criticized for supporting Israel, has lately called Israel’s response “over the top,” which he followed by calling for a temporary cease-fire.
Burgers aren’t supposed to be political, though. Tell that to McDonald’s, whose Q4 earnings report revealed that sales in its international licensed markets and corporate sector, including the Middle East, shrank to 0.7% growth, compared to 16.5% the prior year, “reflecting the impact of the war in the Middle East.”
In a letter posted to LinkedIn, McDonald’s president and CEO Chris Kempczinski recognized that several markets in the Middle East “and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war,” and that “associated misinformation,” is affecting brands like his.
In October, photos of a McDonald’s franchise in Israel donating thousands of free meals to soldiers went viral, which ignited calls to boycott the chain. This moment also marked a period of declining sales in McDonald’s Middle Eastern and Muslim-majority markets like Indonesia and Malaysia.
It’s all about the franchise
Under McDonald’s franchise model, individual restaurants are not strictly controlled by the parent chain and often decide things like business location, pricing, advertisements, products, hiring, and even holidays it wants to observe. The perks of this model means the parent company can have bigger access to capital, open multiple locations, and increase brand awareness with minimal supervision of the franchisee. (Ray Kroc, the man who wrested control of McDonald’s from the McDonald brothers, famously said that it was secretly a real-estate company as a result of this franchise model, a story told in the ironically titled movie, “The Founder.”)
The downsides of the franchise model, as the company may be seeing now, includes loss of complete brand control and increased potential for legal disputes since franchisees have a lot of control over their operations.
Ajai Gaur, a professor of management and global business at Rutgers, explained how a parent company “doesn’t have much control” over its franchises, which can also “engage in social movements like charity.”
“Even if the head office could do something, what would they do?” Gaur said, arguing that more transparency could help companies avoid attacks long-term. A parent company could show, for example, “whatever number of franchisees it has in Saudi Arabia, how many local people are employed there, what the business, profit, employment, and benefits are for the local community—and what the costs of the boycotts are.”
Beyond that, he said, companies often change their presence in foreign markets during times of war–two weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, McDonald’s, Coke, Starbucks and Netflix suspended operations in Russia. Within a very short period, “a lot of firms just sort of gave up everything there, and that obviously has financial consequences, he said.
Customers don’t expect them to stay neutral, either. “Society is becoming very sensitive to what organizations do,” Gaur said, “and they expect organizations to go beyond profit-making machines.”
“If you don’t build your own narrative, someone else will build the narrative for you,” Gaur said.
Meanwhile, Yum Brands came under fire for its investment in Israeli startups, like TicTuk, an Israeli company that allows customers to order food on social networks and message apps. On an earnings call with investors last week, the brand’s CEO David Gibbs said “top line sales were impacted by the conflict in the Middle East region, with varying degrees of impact across markets in the Middle East, Malaysia, and Indonesia.”
For Starbucks, which has also been a target of antiwar activists, sales also fell short of analysts’ expectations, as revealed by its first-quarter report released last month. On the earnings call, Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said the company saw “negative impact to our business in the Middle East” and that “events in the Middle East also had an impact in the US, driven by misperceptions about our position.” Rachel Ruggeri, Starbucks’ executive vice president, added she expects the conflicts will contribute to lower earnings in the second quarter of the year.
Calls to boycott Starbucks came after the company sued Workers United, the union that represents some of its employees, for trademark infringement after the union made a social-media post stating, “Solidarity with Palestine!” on X. The company demanded the union group stop using its name and similar logo. According to the Associated Press, the workers put up the tweet without authorization of union leaders and it was removed after about 40 minutes. The union group responded with its own lawsuit and seeks to continue using Starbucks’ name and logo.
Matthew Goodman, a senior economic analyst at M Science, told Fortune that tracking the effect of a boycott is “very hard,” especially because other challenges, like shifts in consumer spending, price hikes, unions, and a shaky performance of its seasonal drinks, also affects its earnings. Still, companies need to be “more proactive than ever in monitoring and managing their reputations to minimize the risk that unflattering information, whether accurate or not, leads to consumer boycotts,” he said.
Last December, Starbucks’ stock fell by nearly 10%, a loss in value of nearly $12 billion, due to worker strikes and low foot traffic from customers.
David Denoon, a professor that studies politics and economics at New York University, told Fortune that boycotts are “an increasingly effective tool of economic pressure” because of social media, which allows organizers “to contact millions of people whom they might not otherwise have known.”
On TikTok, hashtags for boycotts have gotten more than 300 million views and shares, and other brands have been thrown into the fire, too. Retail clothing brand Zara became a boycott target after releasing a photo shoot in December that featured broken walls, rubble, and statues with missing limbs wrapped in white cloth, which activists called out as insensitive. The hashtag #boycottzara has more than 86 million views on the social platform.
Historically, boycotts have surprised companies by coming from all directions. Last year was rough for Bud Light, for instance, after the company’s social promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to conservatives and celebrities boycotting the brand. The company said it lost about $395 million in North American revenue in the following months.
For 35 years, consumer boycotts were the heart of the campaign to end apartheid rule in South Africa, which ultimately ended in 1990. The boycotts, which largely did not touch fast food, in line with today’s patterns, ultimately caused British imports of South African textiles to fall by 35% between 1983 and 1986.
McDonald’s, Starbucks and Yum Brands did not respond to requests for comment.