Success Quote by Jim Cantalupo

He’s doing crisis PR in the clipped cadence of a guy who’d rather be talking numbers. Cantalupo’s line is built like a denial, but it’s really a bid for authorship: he wants the “healthy lifestyles directive” to read as leadership, not litigation management. The key move is temporal. “The second month I was here” is a résumé bullet disguised as anecdote, a way of saying: I acted fast, I set the tone, I wasn’t dragged into it. Speed becomes virtue.

Then comes the preemptive framing of the media: “The pundits will say…” It’s not just defensive; it draws a boundary between insiders who understand corporate intent and outsiders who reduce it to a lawsuit narrative. He even concedes their talking point—“Well that’s what they say”—to make the dismissal feel magnanimous. This is a classic executive tactic: acknowledge the cynicism so you can claim immunity from it.

“It was never about that” is the most interesting clause because it refuses evidence and offers identity instead. He’s not arguing facts; he’s asserting motive. In the early-2000s context—fast food companies facing obesity backlash and legal scrutiny—motive is the battlefield. If the directive looks reactive, it’s an admission that the brand changes only under threat. If it looks principled, it’s “responsible capitalism,” the company as moral actor rather than defendant.

The subtext is simple: trust me over the record. He’s trying to convert a reputational liability into a narrative of voluntary reform, without naming the suit, the plaintiffs, or the pressure that made “healthy lifestyles” suddenly marketable.