Johnson & Johnson: the Tylenol Tragedy

Whitney

 Billman

  COM

 705

  Johnson

 &

 Johnson:

 The

 Tylenol

 Tragedy

  In

 1982,

 Tylenol

 was

 responsible

 for

 nearly

 8%

 ($500

 million)

 of

 Johnson

 and

  Johnson

 sales.

 Accounting

 for

 an

 estimated

 37%

 of

 pain

 reliever

 sales,

 it

 was

 the

  supreme

 leader

 in

 a

 growing

 market.

 Tylenol

 experienced

 a

 horrific

 crisis

 when

  seven

 people

 in

 the

 Chicago

 area

 died

 after

 taking

 Extra-­‐Strength

 capsules

 laced

  with

 cyanide

 in

 October

 of

 1982.

 Investigations

 by

 law

 enforcement

 pointed

 out

  that

 the

 tampering

 happened

 once

 the

 product

 reached

 the

 shelves,

 rather

 than

  taking

 place

 during

 the

 production

 process.

 While

 there

 were

 seven

 deaths

 in

 the

  Chicago

 area

 related

 to

 cyanide,

 a

 separate

 incident

 had

 been

 noted

 from

 California

  with

 strychnine-­‐contamination.

  Any

 crisis

 can

 cause

 a

 scare

 in

 the

 consumer.

 The

 recall

 of

 Extra-­‐Strength

 capsules

  left

 open

 shelf

 space

 to

 fight

 for.

 Some

 retailers

 left

 the

 space

 open

 rather

 than

  filling

 it

 with

 other

 brands

 and

 some

 put

 labels

 over

 the

 shelves

 with

 Tylenol

 tablets

  noting

 that

 the

 tablets

 were

 not

 affected.

 Sales

 following

 the

 Tylenol

 tragedy

 went

  down,

 as

 expected.

 The

 sales

 also

 suggested

 that

 some

 consumers

 were

 avoiding

  pain

 relievers

 in

 general

 while...