Case in Point

A year or so ago, I read an interesting story about how India was resisting the entrenchment of Burger King by using the force of popular opinion... or so I thought! I was trying to use the example in class, to illustrate the subtle political challenges a company might face when trying to enter a new country. As I was telling the story, though, I knew I didn't have the details quite right.

After searching Google and going through my paper resources, I found the source article -- I'm pretty proud of that. What I'm not so proud of, though, is that the story was about Kentucky Fried Chicken!

In Global Marketing Management by Masaaki Kotabe and Kristiaan Helsen (p. 173), they explain that some consumer activists warned that KFC would promote a junk-food culture, and some went so far as to proclaim "that this was the 'return of imperialistic powers' and was an attempt to 'Westernize the eating habits' of Indians. Overzealous local authorities in the city of Bangalore used a city law restricting the use of MSG... over a certain amount... for temporarily closing down the outlet, despite the fact that the authorities did not have the equipment to measure the MSG content... In... New Dehli, a KFC outlet was temporarily closed down because the food inspector found a 'house fly' in the restaurant." Ultimately, KFC was able to reopen these locations, but not without a lot of trouble.

A related story about protests organized by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), "Crippled Chicken Alleges Cruelty, Asks KFC to Quit India," is available at http://www.newindpress.com, August 20, 2003.

These protests illustrate that, as much as you might study the culture of a country (e.g., Indian Hindus' view of the cow as sacred) and work within the legal environment's boundaries, you can still be blind-sided. These relatively small -- but active and vocal -- consumer groups are stakeholders to be considered.