In 1982 Tylenol had one of the most known PR crisis. Tylenol, owned by Johnson & Johnson, distributed Tylenol bottles lined with cyenide. This toxic substance is deadly in even the smallest dose. This crisis lead to seven deaths in Chicago, Illinois. In an effort to salvage their company name and ensure no more deaths, J&J cleared the shelves of all Tylenol bottles.
For this assignment in class we were to asses the case study done on the Tylenol crisis. After discussing it in class, and reading the case study I don’t know what J&J could have done better. In a crisis there are many ways to handle the situation, and J&J took all the right steps. Although they may have lost a lot at first, they ended up ahead of where they were before the crisis in the end.
J&J’s credo says it all. They put the customer first. There was a recent case where Tylenol was being accused of causing liver failure. After a taking Tylenol for a month the mans liver began to fail and in reaction the man blamed tylenol. After investigation, they liver failure was caused by a pre-existing disease. Even with this crisis J&J still withhold a very positive image as a family company. Nothing seems to be able to bring them down.
I think that because of the way they handled themselves with the Tylenol crisis, people have realized that they aren’t just a company out to sell and make as much money as possible; but they truly care about their customers. Tylenol is without a doubt “The Family Company.”
Kaeli Cassaday 