McDonald’s is spending $100 million on marketing to bring customers back to its restaurants after a recent E. coli outbreak, which sickened over 100 people and damaged the franchise’s sales across the country.
The company is putting $35 million directly toward marketing and another $65 million to lift up stores that lost business due to the outbreak. Value deals such as the 10-piece McNuggets for $1, as well as the $5 meal, have been widely advertised to bring customers back.
The October outbreak was originally thought to be caused by the patties and onions used in the Quarter Pounder sandwich, but the patties passed inspection for contamination.
On Oct. 28, McDonald’s chief supply chain officer, Cesar Pina, said, “Over the weekend, McDonald’s was informed that the Colorado Department of Agriculture has completed their testing, the results of which confirm that there was no detection of E. coli in the samples taken of Quarter Pounder beef patties from restaurants in this area. We’ve been informed there is no further testing planned for beef patties.”
Soon after, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration declared the slivered onions the source of the outbreak. McDonald’s onion supplier Taylor Farms, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, temporarily and voluntarily recalled its onions as it sought more information about where they were farmed.
Colorado’s Agriculture Department said it had “no information suggesting onions grown in Colorado are linked to this outbreak.”
Several lawsuits have been filed against the fast food chain after more than 100 people across 14 states fell ill from the food. Colorado was where the first reports were filed, but the situation quickly spread as far east as Missouri, proving widespread.
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McDonald’s brought the Quarter Pounder with slivered onions back to the menu, carrying out business as usual.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski told CNN the chain is “ready to do more if we need to to make sure that we are bringing the full resources of McDonald’s” to bring customers back.