Fox 31 Denver: McDonald’s investing millions to win back customer trust after E. coli outbreak

November 17, 2024

DENVER (KDVR) — After at least 30 cases of E. coli in Colorado were attributed to customers eating at McDonald’s, including one case that resulted in death, the fast food giant is investing millions to try and win back the trust of customers.

McDonald’s announced that it’s going to spend $100 million to try and get people back to the Golden Arches after losing sales thanks to the E. coli outbreak. An economics professor told FOX31 this is the right move for the company.

“In economics, we just call it an outside shock to the company and some outside shocks are good, some are bad,” said Kishore Kulkarni, an economics professor at MSU Denver.

Kulkarni said the E. coli outbreak was a bad outside shock. McDonald’s announced that $100 million will now go towards bringing people back into the restaurants. Kulkarni said that the money isn’t the issue.

“One hundred million dollars is not really the main question because they can always find that change somewhere,” he said. “What is more important is the name of the company.”

Earning back the trust that was broken should now be the company’s main goal, said Kulkarni, and cash is the best place to start