Initial response to Yoshinoya's statement has been negative with many STOMPers accusing the company of using the part-time trainee as a scape-goat. A closer look at Yoshinoya's Crisis Communication plan reveals a major flaw - failure to understand the difference between Traditional Media vs New Media.
In the former, a statement of this nature would have been acceptable as reporters would have used the facts to write their story. However, as Yoshinoya had chosen to respond via the New Media (and rightly so), a modified form of statement would have been necessary. In this case, the response from Yoshinoya should have been directly addressed to the STOMPer that raised the issue, as this would have allowed Yoshinoya to more adequately address his "outrage".
Once again, as I mentioned in my research paper, PR Professional must understand the New Media before they can effectively serve their clients.