The Tylenol Crisis

Tylenol was Johnson and Johnson’s most successful product in the United States. Over one hundred million people were consuming Tylenol tablets in the painkiller field accounting for a 37% market share outselling other leading painkillers combined. Johnson and Johnson was leading a very successful business due to this one product, and it would have been difficult for them to lose the lead in this top commodity.

In the fall of 1982, customers consuming Tylenol tablets, mainly in the Chicago, Illinois area, mysteriously began to die. For unknown reasons, someone replaced the Tylenol capsules with cyanide-laced capsules. The packages were resealed and were then dropped onto the shelves of pharmacies throughout Chicago. As a result, seven people

died from this mysterious catastrophe.
Initially, Johnson and Johnson had no knowledge of the laced capsules until a reporter called the company for a comment. The first questions Johnson and Johnson needed to ask themselves was, “How do we protect the people?” and “How do we save this product?” Although Johnson and Johnson was not responsible for the laced products, they still assumed responsibility because it was their product and their responsibility to repair the damage that has been done.
First, until the extent of the damage was determined, Johnson and Johnson alerted customers throughout the United States through the media and warned to not use the product. Johnson and Johnson took things further by discontinuing the production and advertising of Tylenol, as well as extracted all Tylenol capsules and tablets from stores within and in the surrounding the Chicago area. Eventually, a national withdrawal of the product was enforced after discovering two more contaminated bottles and the products’ exposure.
Through the media, Johnson and Johnson communicated their strategies as well as enforced and alerted the public to not use the product. A 1-800 hotline and a toll-free line were established to respond to customers and their growing concerns about the safety of Tylenol and pre-taped messages updating the position of the crisis to those concerned.
Tylenol’s extensive measures, although seemed unnecessary because of the small chance of encountering more poisoned tablets, received a positive attitude from consumers. Johnson and Johnson decided to show the public that they were not willing to take any risks concerning the public’s safety no matter how much the company was going to lose. In the end, Tylenol, as well as Johnson and Johnson, was viewed as the victim of a crime instead of a company that tried to cover up the crisis. They made sure the nation knew exactly what was happening in every step of the process in order to gain or maintain the trust that people instilled in the company.
The choices Johnson and Johnson had in recovering from this unfortunate event were very limited. Trust was broken between the company and its customers, therefore attempting to salvage their name was going to require a lot of work, which the company was very aware of as displayed in the way they approached the crisis. Johnson and Johnson did not have to approach the crisis the way they did. They could have not taken the extra step in taking all of the capsules off of the shelves nationwide and only focused on the Chicago area, but an impending doubt would be shadowed upon those not in the Chicago area. The company’s choice to include the media in as much of the crisis as possible could have been handled differently. The media played a large part in getting a clear message out there for those concerned. Therefore, without the use of the media, consumers would not be updated as thoroughly as they would have liked to be. The company’s overuse of media aided expedited their efforts in establishing the company they were and what they have become now.
In Johnson and Johnson’s credo, they constantly state and reinforce that their main responsibility is the people who work for them and those who use their products.

They thoroughly explain how they would do their best to provide the absolute best products in quality in product and in service. Everyone involved in the company, employees, doctors, patients, stockholders, and others is created equal and considered an individual. The choices made during the Tylenol crisis greatly influenced Johnson and Johnson’s concepts presented in their Credo. During the crisis, the company displayed to the world how vital their customers and stakeholders are to the company. The employees and customers always come first, and anything that must be done, within just and ethical actions, to keep them satisfied will be done.

Stakeholders in Johnson and Johnson were greatly affected in a positive way. Trust was broken and many expected a company failure, but the company was able to turn opinions as well as the crisis around. From adversity, Johnson and Johnson was able to keep the trust of their stakeholders by taking every possible measure to protect and ensure the people involved that the company is reliable, always has the stakeholders’ interest first, and something like this will never happen

again.
The effects of the crisis were short-term and long-term with the long-term effects overly outweighing the short-term. Short-term effects include the large amount of money lost in refunding, exchanging, recalling, and halting production. The long-term effects include the overwhelming response to the public relations strategy and a complete change in how over the counter products are produced and delivered to consumers. Johnson and Johnson was able to communicate with the public and provide them with constant updates whether it be through media, telephone, or word of mouth. Without media, the company would not have been able to come across as personable as they were.
The Tylenol Crisis also brought up the issue of how over the counter medicines are distributed.

Since the crisis, Johnson and Johnson promised to protect their customers; therefore, they worked with FDA officials and introduced new methods that make it obvious to customers when products are tampered with. They introduced a glued box, foil seals on the opening of the bottle, as well as other tamper resistant packaging. These new establishments were introduced six months after the crisis and made Tylenol the first product in the business to implement tamper-proof packaging.

If I were an employee of Johnson and Johnson and I have just received the news of the murders, I would immediately feel indirectly affected. I work for a company that is now in the middle of a huge crisis, and I would attempt to do my part in the handling the situation. All departments of the company were affected. When a crisis hits the company, all departments are affected, and they all have to work together to build the company back up. They must continue their work and learn from the

experience.
If I were an employee of Johnson and Johnson now, I would feel that the Tylenol Crisis was a learning experience. From this crisis, many have learned about how public relations were handled in a correct and orderly way. Johnson and Johnson was able to completely change a negative situation into a positive situation. The company was able to come out as a strong and personable force that could be trusted because they understand their customers and other stakeholders’ needs and concerns. From the crisis, the company learned from the experience and now uses those lessons learned as a foundation for a strong and leading company.
In conclusion, the Tylenol Crisis that Johnson and Johnson faced was filled with hardships and adversity, but ultimately showed stakeholders, who have a large part to do with the company, how much the company really cares. Johnson and Johnson’s approach when solving this problem did not show a company just trying to let a scandal blow over, but they took the time to extract every doubt people had and eliminated each one. Other businesses can learn many different lessons from this crisis. They can learn the importance of public relations and how that can affect the name of the company and the values the company stands for. Johnson and Johnson was also not responsible for the deaths, but they still assumed responsibility. This reflected much on their character: trustworthy and honest. Johnson and Johnson set the precedent for crisis management. They were in a situation and, in the end, came out on top due to good relations and honesty, which reflects positively on their values stated in their Credo and they values they will continue to adhere to in the future.