According to data released by AI-based big data analytics company Daumsoft, burgers were predominantly mentioned in a positive way from 2015 until earlier this month, with the ratio of positive to negative coverage being 85 to 15. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Jul. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — As the controversy surrounding an undercooked patty that allegedly gave a four-year-old girl severe kidney damage continues, negative words related to fears over burgers are increasingly being used on social media, big data suggests.
According to data released by AI-based big data analytics company Daumsoft, burgers were predominantly mentioned in a positive way from 2015 until earlier this month, with the ratio of positive to negative coverage being 85 to 15.
However, the recent controversy involving McDonald’s saw negative posts on social media about burgers account for over 40 percent of the total in recent weeks.
Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), also known as ‘Burger Disease’ in South Korea, has also been increasingly mentioned since the patty scandal broke.
As of July 13, it was mentioned over 3,693 times, a stark contrast to earlier this year when nearly no mention of HUS was found online.
The data also showed the words most used to describe burgers have become increasingly negative in recent weeks, ranging from ‘damaged’ and ‘controversy’ to ‘contaminated’.
When broken down by demographic, parents with younger children were most sensitive to the growing concerns over the danger of undercooked burger patties.
“Though big data suggests positive words are being used more with burgers, the story of the family whose daughter fell ill after eating an undercooked burger is seeing the so-called burger phobia grow,” a Daumsoft official said.
M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
