66 A DRAMA AND A CRISIS

On 29 September 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman woke up feeling sick. She was given one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule and, tragically,she died a few hours later. That same morning, postal worker Adam Janus took Tylenol and he too died shortly thereafter. To cope with their grief, Adam’s brother, Stanley,and sister-in-law,Theresa, ingested Tylenol from Adam’s bathroom, both dying within 48 hours. Around the same time, tampered Tylenol would claim the lives of Mary Reiner, Paula Prince and Mary McFarland, bringing the total death toll to seven innocent Chicagoans.

An immediate investigation was launched. Having heard numerous radio reports detailing the incidents, two ireighters called in to report what they thought might be a possible connection between the deaths and Tylenol.

On testing, each of the capsules proved to be laced with potassium cyanide (KCN, which is an odourless, colourless substance that looks much like regular granulated salt). Each capsule contained KCN at a level toxic enough to provide thousands of fatal doses.

However, the fatal pills came from different production plants and were sold in different drug stores around the Chicago area. The police’s conclusion was that someone was most likely tampering with the drug on the store shelves.

Johnson & Johnson found itself in a very difficult position. One of its leading products had killed seven people in a single city.

At that stage of its history, the company had never established a permanent public relations division or crisis management unit. With the help of the police and the FDA, however, Johnson & Johnson made a number of key decisions and took some decisive actions which still stand as examples of best practice.

On 5 October 1982, seven days after the first reported death, Johnson & Johnson issued a nationwide recall of all Tylenol Extra Strength capsules. The nationwide recall was a brave and expensive decision, meaning that the company withdrew over 31 million bottles at an estimated retail value of over $100 million. It was the largest ever recall in the drugs industry. Johnson & Johnson’s market share collapsed almost overnight from 35% to 8%. Customers were able to exchange Tylenol capsules for caplets, which were more difficult to tamper with.

As soon as the link to Tynlenol was established, Johnson & Johnson then set up two free 1-800 hotlines to deal with the massive panic and media interest. One was set up for the general public, answering questions and fielding the concerns of Tylenol users. The other was for news organizations, and used a daily pre-recorded message with updated statements from the company. Instead of trying to avoid publicity, CEO James Burke spoke directly to national news magazines and talk shows, giving the public a human face behind the business.

The company worked closely with the Chicago Police Department, FBI and FDA to identify suspects, and offered a $100,000 rewardfor information (though the Tylenol Murderer has never been found and the reward remains unclaimed).

Finally, company President Joseph Chiesa brought in new product consultant Martin Calle to work with him on the development of the world’s first tamper-proof gelatine-enrobed capsule, called Tylenol Gelcaps.

On 11 November 1982, Tylenol was reintroduced with a new, triple-sealed package backing this with heavyweight advertising campaigns and price promotions where people could save up to $2.50 per bottle.

The campaigns positioned Tylenol as a brand you could trust.

To back this up, Johnson & Johnson continued to make improvements in quality control. Along with the new tamperresistant packaging, it introduced random inspection procedures before the shipment of Tylenol to retailers.

In less than a year, Johnson & Johnson’s market share had climbed back up to 29%, and within several years, Tylenol had once again become the most popular over-the-counter analgesic in the US. Today,it still holds a share of around 35%.

And the moral is that in the face of a crisis, brands should aim to over-compensate, not over-promise or ignore the problem. Do you know what you would do if a crisis struck your brand?