Fumble: Tim Hortons’ absence makes the story grow worse

Sometimes – VERY rarely – there may be a time to let the media enquiry go unanswered. Reporters hate it, and the story usually won’t be kind as a result, but sometimes the cost-benefit analysis that any communicator must make in these “do I return the call?” situations determines that it’s best to take the knock for remaining silent. We don’t know the specifics behind Tim Hortons’ silence amid this week’s story suggesting that Ontarians are proportionally disadvantaged in their chances to win by rolling up the rim. But whatever the case, the Toronto Star did note that “repeated calls to Tim Hortons’ head office in Oakville” went unreturned. That left the Star clear to crunch numbers about probabilities of winning in other provinces versus here in Ontario without any input from the company itself. And the end result was, their silence didn’t do them any favours.