What Happened?
On September 29, 1982, it was reported that seven people had died all
of them took cyanide-laced capsules of Tylenol. After the seven deaths a man
named James W. Lewis was arrested due to claiming that he was this so called
“Tylenol Terrorist” and that he wanted the company Johnson & Johnson to
give him a million dollars to before he kills more people. Lewis was found not
to be the “Tylenol Terrorist" and this case still goes unsolved to this day.
How did Johnson & Johnson Protect Their Brand?
“Marketers
predicted that the Tylenol brand, which accounted for 17 percent of the
company's net income in 1981, would never recover from the sabotage. But only
two months later, Tylenol was headed back to the market, this time in
tamper-proof packaging and bolstered by an extensive media campaign.” Johnson
& Johnson is committed to its mission statement of putting its customers
first and that is ultimately the reason why they didn’t disappear after the
1982 Tylenol Scare. This was a great step for Johnson & Johnson to do,
although it wasn’t their fault that people died using their product they didn’t
just sit back and do nothing. “Tylenol maker Johnson
& Johnson was quick to cooperate with investigators, ordering a mass recall
of the medication, halting production and taking other measures to improve
product safety. The company has been widely praised for its reaction.” After they did this huge recall they
came up with new packaging so that no tampering could be done to their product,
they also changed the design of their Tylenol by making them into caplets. They
offered promotions through newspapers and phone calls to help motivate
customers to buy their new Tylenol. Also “to recover loss stock from the crisis, Johnson
& Johnson made a new pricing program that gave consumers up to 25% off the
purchase of the product. (Mitchell 1989)
Over 2250 sales people made
presentations for the medical community to restore confidence on the product. (Mitchell
1989)”
Citations:
Rehak, J. (2002). Tylenol made a hero of Johnson & Johnson: The
recall that started them all. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/your-money/23iht-mjj_ed3_.html
The Tylenol Crisis, 1982.
Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall02/susi/tylenol.htm
Noonan, J. (2009) History of
the Tylenol Poisonings. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/feb/History-of-the-Tylenol-Poisonings-.html
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