The Tylenol Crisis

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a case study example of the Tylenol crisis and how Johnson and Johnson dealt with the crisis. The paper focuses on how companies should handle a crisis when it occurs and how public relations can be effective in those cases. It looks at the history of the Tylenol crisis, how Johnson and Johnson resolved the issue and how they made a successful comeback.

Table of Contents:
The Story Behind What Happened
Resolving the Issue
The Comeback
For Future Reference

From the Paper:

"Just six weeks after the nation learned of the "Tylenol Crisis", Johnson & Johnson revealed its plan for recovery. There were five main objectives in the Johnson & Johnson comeback campaign. Tylenol capsules were re-introduced with a new triple-seal, tamper-resistant package. The package had flaps glued together on the box; inside a tight plastic seal surrounded the cap and an inner foil seal wrapped over the bottle's opening. The label also carried the warning: "Do not use if safety seals are broken." To encourage the use of Tylenol to customers who may have drifted from the brand as a result of the incidents, coupons were provided for $2.50-off the purchase of any Tylenol product. A new pricing program was also put into effect. The new program gave customers a 25 percent discount. A new advertising campaign was being worked on as well and was launched in 1983. Finally, over 2,250 salespeople from partners of Johnson & Johnson were asked to make presentations to people in the medical field. These presentations were to promote support for the re-introduction of Tylenol. (Susi, 2002)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cutlip, S.M., Center, A.H., Broom, G.M. (2006). Effective public relations (9th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Hogue, J. (2001, April 19). Tylenol tampering scare. Retrieved June 16, 2006 from, MMC 32601 Communications on the Internet Web site: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/ Hogue/tylenol.html
• Hogue, J. (2001, April 19). Crisis Plan Checklist. Retrieved June 17, 2006 from, MMC 32601 Communications on the Internet Web site: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/Hogue/crisisplan.html
• Kowalski, W. (n.d.). The Tylenol murders. Retrieved June 16, 2006 from Penn State University, Web site: http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/tylenol/
• McCusker, G. (2005, January). The truth about PR disasters. Retrieved June 15, 2006 from, Web site: http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucmccuskera.htm

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