Kraft Heinz faces TikTok backlash for response to upset customer—how competitors are capitalizing

Kraft Heinz has come under fire for how it responded on social media to a customer who says she bought multiple boxes of the brand’s gluten-free mac and cheese, none of which contained cheese sauce packets. After sending Kraft Heinz several customer service emails, Abby Engel took to TikTok on Tuesday to ask why the brand’s gluten-free mac and cheese boxes from several different grocery stores did not contain cheese sauce packets. Engel says she was diagnosed with Celiac disease five years ago and that mac and cheese is her comfort food. Engel’s original TikTok has 2 million views and over 8,000 comments as of writing. @aceengel Hi, @KraftMacnCheese I have tried emailing and calling you abiut this problem, but your coupon seems like a band-aid and the problem isnt being solved in your production company! Gluten Free Mac & Cheese boxes do not have the sauce packet in them! I have had this happen with 4 different boxes from 4 different stores in the past 2 months. I’ve contacted you, you’ve given me a coupon, and when i use that coupon to get a new box? It doesnt have a sauce packet in it either!! Please check out your production line to see where sauce packets are getting missed! Im not upset, I just want you to know this is happening so you can fix it! #kraft #kraftmacandcheese #glutenfree #fyp ♬ original sound - Abby Kraft Mac and Cheese commented on her video: “Hello. We apologize for this issue. We’re not having any quality issues with our gluten-free Kraft Mac and Cheese.” Engel, and other TikTokers, did not appreciate the tone of the reply, especially after Engel said that the brand had commented on another video that they had already reached out to her when they had not. (In her first video, Engel mentioned that they had sent her a coupon to buy another box, only for the problem to occur again.) Also read: Coca-Cola’s AI lead on the response to its holiday ads “The way I would never buy Kraft again if I was the one experiencing this and they responded this way?!?” one person commented. @aceengel Replying to @kraftmacandcheese Hi, @kraftmacandcheese I think you still misunderstood my orignal message, so I’d just like to go over a few things! Also, you claimed to have reached out to me. But I dont have any new messages from you. Open to chatting if you would like to! To everyone supporting me: Thank You for validating me. I have felt, because of my gluten free diet, I’m often isolated because I cant enjoy the same things as everyone else. All of you rallying behind me has really healed something in me. Thank you for your kindness🫶🏻 Also, Thank you to the amazing @Walmart staff member who reached out to me. She made me feel like I truly matter, and I appreciate them for always ensuring gluten free people have good food too. My DM’s are open, Kraft. You have my phone number, email & mailing address as well. I hope to hear from you. #kraft #kraftmacandcheese #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #glutenfree #fyp ♬ original sound - Abby Now, Kraft’s gaffe has opened the door for other brands to share their gluten-free options with Engel and potentially win over other gluten-free consumers. As of yesterday, Stouffer’s had already sent Engel boxes of frozen gluten-free sides and chicken enchiladas, and California Pizza Kitchen sent her several cauliflower crust gluten-free pizzas. @aceengel Wow, what is my life today?! @Fox 5 New York just interviewed me for their 10pm news broadcast tonight! (You can watch it on their website at 10pm EST!) Im so honored they gave me the opportunity to speak about this and advocate for the gluten free and celiac community! @stouffers delivered 8 boxes of absolute gluten feee GOODNESS straight to my door! I havent tried any of these products, and am so excited to try them! Stouffers, I’m so grateful for you. And your social media manager is betond kind! Truly, thank you. From the bottom of my heart. @California Pizza Kitchen also delivered 4 gluten free pizzas to my door and ones in my oven right now dor dinner! CPK, I’ve always been a fan, but now you got me for life! Thank you so incredibly much for reaching out and sending me this kind surprise. You are truly one of a kind. Now, to YOU. The person reading this. Thank YOU for your support in all of this! Your comments and each of you rallying behind me has truly melted away my anxiety and isolation and have reminded me that I not only have a seat at the table, but you all will be sure I have something to eat at that table too. YOU have made a difference in my life just by commenting and being apart of this. I’ve read every comment and every DM, and every single one is healing my soul. “Thank you” isnt enough, but its all I have. So thank you. I am so insanely grateful. Lastly, Thank you to the representatives from @Walmart , @Kroger, @Meijer for also reaching out! Your care has made me feel like im no longer isolated. You are all wonderful stores and im so proud to be your customer. #glutenfree #kraft #macandcheese #stouffers #californiapizzakitchen #fyp ♬ original sound - Abby On Thursday, Engel posted that Kraft did reach out to her and she spoke to “an executive named Larry.” Engel said that Kraft is conducting an internal investigation and that the food giant did not ask her to take down any videos. @aceengel Replying to @Abby An executive from @kraftmacandcheese and I have now spoken! It was a great conversation! They have heard us, and are investigating internally! They are also going to be looking at their social media team. So glad I had the opportunity to speak to Larry about this situation, and that we can move forward from this! Also, shout out to @stouffers for reaching out! #kraftmacandcheese #kraft #glutenfree #fyp ♬ original sound - Abby “Our team has been in touch with Abby to apologize for her experience and to make things right,” a Kraft Mac and Cheese spokesperson told Ad Age via email. “We are working closely with our response teams to ensure all future inquiries are treated with the care and respect they deserve. Our Quality Assurance team is also diligently investigating the production issue to determine the root cause and to fix it.” Engel says she bought the mac and cheese at Walmart, Kroger and Meijer’s, and praised those representatives for reaching out to her. Walmart said they would also reach out to Kraft Heinz directly. The issue has highlighted how important social media teams are when it comes to addressing consumer concerns. They are often the first employees to hear of consumers’ concerns around products and have the ability to quickly resolve complaints. Viewers of Engel’s video pointed to California Pizza Kitchen, which was praised for how it handled an incorrect delivery order. In July, a woman had ordered mac and cheese, only to be given the cheese sauce and no noodles. Shortly after, the chain sent her a box of uncooked pasta as well as certificates for free mac and cheese and pizza for a year. California Pizza Kitchen even took it a step further and made mac and cheese half-off for all customers for the rest of the month. @calpizzakitchen PSA on how to make CPK Mac 'N' Cheese correctly.👨🏻🍳🍝 Use promo code cheeseANDmac for 50% off your Mac 'N' Cheese order available for takeout and delivery. Offer valid July 19, 2024 – July 31, 2024, for take-out or CPK delivery only. No third-party delivery. 50% off order of Mac and Cheese. Use promo code: cheeseANDmac. Only at participating locations in the U.S. (excluding locations in airports, stadiums, universities, Guam, mobile kitchen, and franchised locations). Excludes tax, catering orders and gratuity. No substitutions, modifications, or additions. Cannot combine with other offers or fundraisers. One per customer per day. One per check. No cash or gift card value. Employees are not eligible and will not apply to Dine Out Card. Void where prohibited. Additional exclusions or restrictions may apply, and terms may change without notice. Offer may be canceled due to pricing or other errors. Questions (including list of non-participating locations)? Call (800) 919-3227. ♬ Funny song for video creation - dg cria Amy Cotteleer, partner and chief experience officer at ad agency Duncan Channon, said Kraft “misunderstood the level of scrutiny brands are under in the social sphere,” adding that its response “feels like something a bot would write and at worst, suggests that a very loyal customer of theirs is lying. “It’s never good business to accuse a customer of lying, but it’s really bad business to do that to a loyal consumer that made a very sincere, very vulnerable, and very passionate video about your product,” Cotteleer said. The incident has given other mac and cheese brands a chance to challenge Kraft’s dominance in the mac and cheese category. Engel said that chickpea-pasta brand Banza and gluten-free mac and cheese maker Goodles have also reached out to her as of yesterday. Other followers have commented that Engel should try General Mills-owned Annie’s gluten-free shells. TikTok creator and nurse Jen Hamilton also made a video about the matter, wondering why Kraft responded the way it did. Hamilton said that even if Kraft did not believe Engel, it would have been better to thank her for pointing out the issue and then send her several boxes of gluten-free mac and cheese. Hamilton’s video has nearly 4 million views. @_jen_hamilton_ @kraftmacandcheese this was an easy one. And you blew it. 😬😬 ♬ original sound - Jen Hamilton Consumers are letting their frustration be known in Kraft Mac and Cheese’s TikTok comments. “The problem isn’t us… it’s YOU.’ -Kraft” reads one. “How about … you get: money and we get: the gluten free Mac n cheese box WITH the sauce packet that we actually paid for,” wrote another. In her videos, Engel has repeatedly said that being Celiac has caused her anxiety and feelings of isolation. She added that she is grateful for those who have commented on her videos and for the brands that have reached out, showing that gluten-free consumers deserve good food too. “To you, you might be commenting on a video because you’re mad at Kraft, but to me, as a gluten-free person, you are saying that I matter, I deserve to have good food,” Engel said in one video. “I did not share this to get free product, or to make people mad at Kraft or anything,” Engle said in another video. “I just wanted the problem solved and this has turned into something so beautiful and so healing and so kind.” The online gaffe comes after a judge recently ruled the company must face consumers in federal court who claim it lied about its macaroni and cheese containing “No Artificial Flavors, Preservatives, or Dyes.” Read about all of the 2024 Marketers of the Year

Kraft Heinz faces TikTok backlash for response to upset customer—how competitors are capitalizing

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