The Tylenol Crisis

Johnson & Johnson is widely known by PR professionals as a leading, iconic company who handled an extreme crisis in the best way possible.

In 1982, seven people in Chicago mysteriously died after ingesting Extra Strength Tylenol. The news spread around the world almost instantly, causing a nationwide panic. The cause of the deaths unraveled days later when two off-duty firemen made a connection between Tylenol and the deaths. The Tylenol capsules turned out to contain 65 milligrams of cyanide each, which is about 60 micrograms more than it takes to kill a human. Johnson & Johnson spoke to the media immediately, releasing a statement that there was no possible way for the tampering to have taken place in any of their plants. They came to the conclusion that since the deaths had only occurred in Chicago, the tampering occurred throughout different stores in the throughout the Chicago area.

Johnson & Johnson's true colors were shown when they had to put a crisis management plan into action fast. The best thing that J&J did was to place customer safety before the companies profit and other financial concerns. Within the first few hour of the crisis, they alerted the media not to consume any type of Tylenol product. In addition to alerting the nation, they stopped all production and advertising of Tylenol and recalled all capsules from the market. The recall included 31 million bottles of Tylenol, with a retail value of more than 100 million dollars.

Johnson & Johnson barely showed concern for themselves. Their main focus was to get to the bottom of the deaths. They offered a $100,000 reward for the person responsible for the tampering. They dealt with the families of the victims individually doing all they could to make up for their losses. J&J were praised for their responsible actions all around the world. The media compared them to other companies who had put themselves first in crises, ruining their reputation and their companies. Newspapers portrayed them as a company that demonstrated how a major business should effectively handle a crisis. Less than 6 weeks after the crisis, Tylenol was back on the market with new safety seals on all bottles, warnings about use if the safety seals were broken and tamper-resistant packaging. This crisis benefited Johnson & Johnson in the long run. It helped define them as a company and built their positive reputation.