The retail playbook for high-risk moments

When consumers expect companies and brands to choose sides, high-profile names can quickly land in a high-profile mess. Online narratives and misinformation now multiply in moments — and can translate to real-world risk. Front-line employees can find themselves in the midst of chaos as easily as leadership. These social and political minefields can disrupt operations, threaten employee safety and damage brands, expanding the meaning of loss prevention and asset protection. 

At McDonald’s, it happened twice in seven weeks in late 2024: In October, presidential candidate Donald Trump wanted to serve fries at a location in Pennsylvania, and the corporate team had just six days to form a plan. In early December, Luigi Mangione, now charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was recognized by an employee at another Pennsylvania McDonald’s. 

In both cases, said Rob Holm, security director with McDonald’s Corporation, social media was the biggest part of the problem. People blamed the anonymous employee for being a “snitch” and for turning in Mangione, considered by some to be a martyr. They threatened the franchise operator, blamed McDonald’s and trashed the company in Yelp reviews. 

In the case of Trump, some were elated. Others denounced the company for “hiring” an individual they described in a variety of less-than-flattering ways. 

“It’s Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok,” Holm told anaudience during NRF PROTECT 2026. “Those are the four big ones that we monitor. And 90% of the information that was shared on those four was negative toward McDonald’s.” The company had to figure out how to respond, without getting in the middle of a campaign. 

LP/AP: Taking an earlier seat at the table 

Today’s retailers need a well-rehearsed, clearly articulated, well-communicated plan. And LP/AP teams need a seat at that planning table early on. 

Holm spoke as part of a panel moderated by Chris Hackler, vice president, global asset protection, with Signet Jewelers. Eugene Kang, senior managing director with Teneo, provided a crisis communications perspective during the conversation: Traditional crisis playbooks often fall short in practice because they were built for operational crises. But even operational crises can now become politicized, expanding the possibility for reputational threats. 

Handling it well requires the right people and the right preparation. Kang recommends bringing in communications, government affairs and other corporate affairs functions earlier in the process, because of the “underlying dynamic where everything can become a reputational risk.”

Similarly, there’s value in holding post-crisis regroups and values-based decision-making conversations outside of live events. “Folks have had a chance to kick the tires, even go back and make some hard decisions,” Kang said. “‘What do we believe? What do we want to speak out on? What do we not want to speak out on?’ Those types of discussions are really hard to do when it feels like the entire media is breathing down your neck.” 

Sometimes, he continued, there’s an issue, there’s a response, and the backlash to the response extends the negative news cycle. The operational crisis plans can run as smoothly as a Swiss watch. “And then you bring in the communications element, and suddenly it feels like a kindergarten soccer game, where everyone’s moving in different directions. It’s hard to get alignment.” 

In addition to early involvement, Kang advocates for an all-hazards approach to playbook design, which could include political/social issues, associate/employee issues, partner/ambassador issues and operational issues. 

Time to prepare, quick to act 

Jon Shimp, vice president, risk and asset protection with Louis Vuitton Americas, is well-versed on the importance of plans — and the ability to execute in real time. 

Activist groups have regularly — and aggressively — protested LVMH brands, he said. “They went after anybody, regardless if they actually had the [product] within their company,” Shimp said. “They used this as a catapult to get to the LVMH level, to make sure that their voices have been heard.” He estimates there have been “anywhere from 100-plus” protests across the parent company’s brands each year for the past three years; Louis Vuitton averages 50 to 60 protests annually. 

“We had to take a really hard step back when it first started happening and say, ‘We need to come up with an action plan. We need to come up with a training tool, because this has a direct impact on our front-line workers at the retail space,’” Shimp said. “It’s a complete disruption. And, quite frankly, some of these are paid actors that are not necessarily there for passion, but to really showcase what they can do, and they become very disruptive in the business.” 

The resulting response plan is not just a security approach, he said. It’s a company approach that ensures the safety of the employees. Third-party tools now monitor social media and online activity, and there’s time to prepare. In addition, there’s coordination with local law enforcement, other LVMH brands and even competitors, as well as training, data sharing and the presence of empowered, trusted decision-makers always prepared to act. 

Even when the crisis is over, the panelists said, the learnings aren’t. The group highlighted the need to review what happened, close gaps, update plans and share institutional knowledge as roles and employees change. 

“Everybody has a plan,” Shimp said, “until you get punched in the face.”