It has been a row which has been threatening to boil over all weekend.
Not only has it triggered a social media storm but it has also resulted in widespread mainstream media coverage.
And an MP has added her own criticism into the mix.
We are of course talking about celebrity chef Jamie Oliver being accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ after launching a product called ‘punchy jerk rice’.
The criticism has centred on the food not including the correct spices, which led to MP Dawn Butler accusing him of using the word ‘jerk’ to sell products.
She went on to say that ‘this appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop’.
#jamieoliver @jamieoliver #jerk I'm just wondering do you know what #Jamaican #jerk actually is? It's not just a word you put before stuff to sell products. @levirootsmusic should do a masterclass. Your jerk Rice is not ok. This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop.
— (((Dawn Butler MP))) (@DawnButlerBrent) August 18, 2018
Ms Butler’s Twitter criticism appears to have divided social media but it certainly added some heat to the issue and saw it move on to the pages of the traditional media.
Here are some of the headlines.
Jamie Oliver accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ over his jerk rice with Labour MP joining the outcry The Sun
Jamie Oliver is accused of ‘cultural appropriation’ by Labour MP Daily Mail
MP accuses Janie Oliver of cultural appropriation over ‘jerk rice’ product Evening Standard
Jamie Oliver accused of appropriating Jamaican jerk spice by Labour MP Dawn Butler The Times
None of these make particularly appetising reading, but the most interesting thing for me about the coverage is that neither Mr Oliver or his team had issued a response.
The Daily Mail, for example, reports that Mr Oliver has been ‘contacted for comment’ while the Evening Standard’s story ends ‘The Standard has approached a representative for Jamie Oliver to comment on this story’.
And it is a similar story online where Mr Oliver has adopted a radio silence approach to the criticism.
You have to assume that he is aware of the story, so why the silence? After all, it is widely known that you have to respond quickly when dealing with a potential crisis media management incident.
Well, there is another school of thought which suggests that saying nothing can sometimes be the best approach.
Not all criticism leads to a crisis media management incident and commenting on it publicly can give the story a fresh impetus.
We’ve seen keyboard warriors go to town on a brand in the past, yet just a few days later the majority of people can't remember what it was about.
It is quite possible that Mr Oliver and his team have decided that this is a storm which will quickly pass and that he does not need to give it oxygen.
And there is merit in that approach in some situations if it is carefully thought through.
But I’m not convinced it is the best strategy here.
The storm does not appear to be going away. In fact, it continues to rumble on and has now moved from print to broadcast news.
This morning alone, two days after Ms Butler’s tweet, the issue is trending on Twitter and I caught segments on the story on LBC and Good Morning Britain, where chefs Levi Roots and Rustie Lee were asked to give their thoughts.
Ms Lee called the product ‘an insult’ and accused Mr Oliver of jumping on a Caribbean ‘bandwagon’, while Mr Roots said the recipe was ‘a mistake’.
TV chefs Levi Roots and Rustie Lee brand Jamie Oliver's jerk rice 'a mistake' amid 'cultural appropriation' claims https://t.co/JlqDE5KzmJ pic.twitter.com/teioOlRaoP
— Mirror TV (@MirrorTV) August 20, 2018
Reggae Reggae Sauce entrepreneur Levi Roots explains why Jamie Oliver's jerk rice should NOT be called jerk. https://t.co/WpnNs9BSPp
— LBC (@LBC) August 20, 2018
Even if Mr Oliver did not want to respond to the original online criticism, he surely should have said something when Ms Butler got involved in the issue and took it into the mainstream media.
You could argue that the story would not have received the same level of coverage has it not happened during the 'silly season' of August, when journalists are traditionally scratching around for stories.
But being accused by an MP of cultural appropriation is serious and it has the capacity to cause a reputational crisis.
Staying silent has allowed the story to grow and has given Jamie Oliver and his brand no control of the narrative.
And as today’s headlines show, that is not a recipe for crisis media management success.
Update: Jamie Oliver broke his silence on the story late on Monday (20/8) with a statement which said he named the product 'punchy jerk rice' to show where his culinary inspiration had come through. You have to wonder why it took him so long to respond to the story and how the headlines could have looked if he had issued his statement earlier.
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