The effects of communication on There's a syringe in my can of PepsiIntroductionIn most cases a crisis occurs at the most unexpected times. The crisis seems to take the organization by surprise and is usually reached due to the lack of a control and response system. This is evident in the case study "There's a Syringe in My Pepsi Can!" Effective communication is the key to successfully communicating the Pepsi crisis. (Centro, 2003) Background of the Case In this case the consumer claimed to have found a hypodermic syringe in a can of Diet Pepsi. This was quickly followed by many similar reports from across the country. Pepsi immediately produced and distributed information demonstrating that it was impossible for a foreign substance to enter the canning process. The president and other top managers made themselves available to the media where they explained the company's safety measures in the canning process. Public fears were addressed and the crisis was diffused. (Center, 2003)Targeted AudiencesIn this case the most important audiences targeted were consumers, the press and Pepsi employees. Pepsi's target audience was both internal and external. The internal audience would be all Pepsi employees. It is important that Pepsi employees have confidence in the product their employer is trying to sell. If that level of trust is not established, it would be difficult for an employee to endorse their company's product. The targeted external audience would be any individual or organization that drinks or purchases soda and the press. Individuals or organizations that purchase or drink soda must be targeted to maintain these individuals' business. The press must be targeted for Pepsi to maintain a positive outlook through the media. A crisis of this nature could lead people to choose to buy different brands of soda instead of Pepsi for fear of finding a syringe in the Pepsi can and the press to promote Pepsi in a negative way. Impact of communication This case shows that Pepsi is going through an actual crisis management team who did their job. This was proven by the fact that they earned the respect of customers and employees through effective communication. The company used good crisis management by taking steps to get back on track as soon as possible without losing a significant amount of customers or sales due to the incident.