Real World Content Challenge: Hargreaves Hams Labeling Prank

A 2005 survey of technical writers conducted by TheContentWrangler.com found “getting content approved prior to publication” was a content workflow problem for 66% of survey respondents. Results from the same survey revealed related content management workflow problems including “preventing inaccurate content from being published” (67%) and “skipping steps in content creation and publishing workflow in order to meet deadlines” (65%).

If these results are indiciative of the content problems being faced by many organizations, then it’s no surprise that Manchester UK meat manufacturer, H R Hargreaves & Sons, failed to prevent the ingredients label on its “premium” ham product from being tampered with by an employee. Unfortunately for Hargreaves, an employee was able to inappropriately alter the “ingredients list” that appears on Hargreaves-brand premium hams.

Consumers who purchased Hargreaves hams were shocked to find “dog sh*t” was included in the list of ingredients. The company has since recalled the mislabeled hams, fired the employee responsible for the prank, and spent considerable effort—and resources—trying to convince consumers that their products are of the highest quality, a difficult challenge under the smelly circumstances.

It’s important to note that content management is about control. It’s obvious that Hargreaves was not in control of their product labeling content. By tighting content review and approval processes and adopting a content management strategy and appropriate tools, Hargreaves and other manufacturers can pro-actively work to prevent inaccurate content from being published.

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