Education Secretary Linda McMahon Misspeaks and the Food Company Pours It On
4/17/25 – – Restraint and situational awareness are underappreciated skills in cyberspace. Good judgment is often overpowered by the temptation for individuals and companies to display cleverness online and seek the intoxicating validation of “likes.”
This pitfall was demonstrated last week when Kraft Heinz, marketers of A.1. steak sauce, posted a teasing meme on Instagram highlighting an embarrassing verbal flub by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Speaking to an education conference in San Diego, McMahon mistakenly used, more than once, “A1” in reference to artificial intelligence (AI):
“Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything . . . It wasn’t all that long ago that it was, ‘We’re going to have internet in our schools!’ Now let’s see A1 and how can that be helpful.”
A few days later, Kraft Heinz posted an image of an A.1. steak sauce bottle with these words added to the label: “FOR EDUCATION PURPOSES ONLY.” Accompanying text read: “AGREE, BEST TO START THEM EARLY.” The post’s caption drove the message home: “You heard her. Every school should have access to A.1.”
Media coverage of the opportunistic social media response has been primarily positive. Online comments have generally poked fun. My favorite:
“When it comes to education, there’s so much at ‘steak.’”
You may be thinking, “What’s wrong with a company having some fun on social media to get attention for their brand? McMahon’s a big girl who has been in the ring (literally) before. She can take the teasing. And don’t you have a sense of humor?”
Fair questions. But let’s get back to the importance of restraint and situational awareness.
How Could We Not Bite On It?
I understand how hard it is for marketing folks, steeped in the irreverent culture of social media, to show restraint when unexpected, free opportunities for exposure appear. A Kraft Heinz representative told PEOPLE:
“. . . when the moment was served up like a juicy steak, how could we not bite on it? We’re thrilled at the positive reception to our response as it underscores the team’s agility and the strong collaboration with our partners.”
What “the team” may not have paid enough attention to were the risks involved. These are not normal times.
The administration in Washington has made it clear they are super sensitive to criticism. They are not backing away from fights. And with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who attends cabinet meetings with Linda McMahon) insisting that food companies help him Make America Healthy Again, this is not the best time for a purveyor of steak sauce to jump on the administration’s radar.
In these trying times, your default communications strategy when politics is at play should be “do no harm.” Better to make love, not war.
Beware the Briar Patch of Politics
Poking even good-natured fun at any political figure in today’s toxic, no-common-ground political environment is dangerous and can come off as partisan mocking. The USA Today headline on this story framed Kraft Heinz’s post in a negative light: “Education Secretary Linda McMahon Confuses AI with A1, Sauce Brand Capitalizes on Blunder.”
And EJ Montini, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, ended his commentary on the confusion with this political broadside:
“Considering what Trump has planned for public education, it’s likely that the next generation of American school kids won’t know the difference between AI and A1 either.”
The U.S. population is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. Mass marketers stepping into the briar patch of politics on any issue or event are likely to turn off half their customer base. And there’s no convincing evidence that consumers will buy your product (certainly not steak sauce) just because of your perceived political leanings. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true.
Online Response Does Not Have to be Snarky or Pugnacious
Kraft Heinz could have embraced this situation by staying positive, picking no fights, and reinforcing the iconic standing of the brand. Even on Instagram, you can have fun with a situation without making fun of anyone.
The sauce, formulated by King George IV’s chef in the 1820s, has been commercially available in the U.S. since 1895. The company could have responded to inquiries regarding McMahon’s flubs with humorous, apolitical empathy, stating something like: “We understand. The great taste of A.1. stays on your mind, and the name of our iconic brand has been rolling off steak lovers’ tongues for more than a century.”
Yes, you might be thinking, but that would not get as much attention or likes.
Exactly.
So far, there’s been no response from Secretary McMahon. This may pass with little impact, good or bad, on the brand. But as a communications counselor focused on preventing crises from happening, I encourage companies to go to school on the actions of others. What would your social media team do with a similar “opportunity”? Do you have pre-posting protocols in place to weigh risks and rewards to your company and brands in today’s environment?
If you’re a marketing or communications executive, you need to master restraint and situational awareness – – critical ingredients in the secret sauce of crisis prevention.
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