Reputation management can be like tight rope walking – good balance is vital and the wrong footing can pitch you over the edge into the abyss (of public criticism).

It appeared that Cadbury didn’t anticipate the angry customer response to its change to palm oil. It is now busy back tracking with a move to fair-trade and the hope that customer loyalty will bring people back.

But Foodstuff’s move last week to back down on the 5 cent levy for plastic bags has left many people somewhat bemused. Sometimes giving in to customer demands can actually damage your brand or at least confuse your customers.

Foodstuffs must have anticipated a negative response from some customers over the levy and introduced the changes regardless. So why back down now when those responses have come to pass and why back down so soon - just a month after the levy was introduced?

Perhaps shoppers just needed more time to get their heads around the idea of bringing reusable shopping bags to the supermarket. To those who objected to paying, the answer is simple; bring your own bag in and say no thanks to paying for plastic.

Yes, Foodstuffs have been accused of double dipping, of not reducing other packaging and of being plain greedy. But this was a New Zealand-owned company making a move that generated a lot of publicity on the plastic bag issue. This debate is needed as a precursor to the wider debate on use, reuse and recycle.

If customers embraced the move it may have paved the way for Foodstuffs to put pressure on its suppliers to reduce their own packaging. Now that would have been a major win.

Foodstuffs Wellington managing director Tony McNeil has said that the levy had already achieved its aim – plastic bag use has decreased by half. So, um, shouldn’t that give greater impetus for the scheme continuing on a compulsory basis?

The windy weather Wellington enjoys every spring is an excellent reminder of why reducing plastic bag use is a good thing. How many plastic bags are currently whirling their way around the city, destined for the harbour or the townbelt?

This was an example where the customer is not always right and the opportunity was lost for a company to take a stand for the greater good.