Health care backlash blemishes restaurants' reputations

ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL RESTAURANT NEWS

Restaurant operators’ post-election opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare,” has sparked a public controversy that dinged a few brands’ reputations with consumers.

 Following the Nov. 6 re-election of President Barack Obama, which all but ensured that his signature health care reform law would not be repealed, some operators’ public statements about what requirements of the law would mean to their businesses provoked waves of criticism and support from consumers.

According to a new report from consumer perception researcher YouGov BrandIndex, Papa John’s Pizza, Applebee’s and Denny’s experienced a short-term decline in “buzz scores,” which the company uses to measure positive or negative word-of-mouth for brands, for such comments.

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