Making people sick is bad for business: buzz edition

‘Infamous is when you’re more than famous. As in, this man El Guapo is not just famous, he’s infamous.’

Sorta like when your buzz goes down.

According to CNBC, Chipotle’s buzz is on the negative scale (whatever that means).chipotle_buzz_0

YouGov BrandIndex said its “buzz” score plummeted to -39.4 on Tuesday from 7.4 on October 30 before an E. coli outbreak came to light. This is the lowest level YouGov has ever measured for the chain since it began tracking it in mid-2007.

Purchase consideration has also plummeted. About 13 percent of respondents said they would consider Chipotle the next time they ate at a restaurant, its lowest level since February 2014. Since the year began, YouGov interviewed 25,000 adults about Chipotle for its surveys.

“I think it’s going to be a while before consumers shake this off and get it out of their mind,” said YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli, in a phone interview.

“When two happen so close together, it does have a magnification impact,” he added.