Fight or flight? How you react to taunting as a kid can help shape your reputation in the neighborhood. It’s no different in business.

Growing up, my mother told me it was best to ignore troublemakers. My dad, on the other hand, knew that wasn’t always possible. “Don’t let them push you around.”  If someone takes a swing at you, poke them right back.

They were both right. If you’re too defensive you can hear a slight in even the most innocent comments. That means you spend a lot of wasted time repairing damage you needlessly created. But to dad’s credit, you sometimes have to push the instigator back. Taco Bell agrees.

A class-action suit that claims those  burritos and enchiladas are filled with something less than real beef can take a bite out of your $7 billion in annual sales.  So you have to swing back with force, speed and precision. Your lawyers will take care of the lawsuit. But if you’re a national QSR you better have a top-notch crisis response plan, one that treats traditional and social media with equal importance. (Right, Domino’s?)

Taco Bell seemed well prepared and ready to fight back. It is countering the “beef filler and extenders” claim with a Truth campaign that has used media relations, social media, paid search, online video and full-page ads in high profile newspapers. The integrated response has helped regain control of the story. Has the response been perfect? Probably not but it’s been pretty effective. Thanking the plaintiffs for the lawsuit, as it did in its ad, may seem like false bravado but the company has at least taken back the offensive position. And if a fight is necessary that’s the position you want.