Burrito chain Chipotle, which has endured a string of crises related to food-born illness, has engaged Rubenstein Associates for PR support.
The Denver-based company has been reeling for months after outbreaks of norovirus and E. coli sparked a criminal probe of the company and decimated sales and its share price.
Chipotle recently split with Edelman after citing a client conflict with the industry's largest PR firm.
The chain shut down all of its restaurants on Monday to re-train its 50,000 employees in food safety procedures. In releasing its earnings on Feb. 2, co-CEO Steve Ells called the fourth quarter "the most challenging period in Chipotle's history."
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation has concluded, the company reported.
Fourth quarter revenue slipped 6.8% to $997.5M as sales were down 14.6% "due to publicity during the quarter surrounding food-borne illness incidents associated with a number of Chipotle restaurants."
Chipotle has 2,010 restaurants.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
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CEO mentoring is an often-overlooked aspect of why CEOs are able to make good decisions, and sometimes make bad ones—all of which intersects with the role and duties of a board. 
How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
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