Tylenol Tampering Case

The Tylenol case represents perhaps the worst sort of dilemma a company can face. Through no fault of its own, Johnson & Johnson was faced with the destruction of one of its most important brand names. An unknown assailant used the product to murder a number of people at random, and the story was one of the most widely covered events in media history. Within the first week it is estimated that more than 90 percent of the American public were aware of what had happened (Wall Street Journal, October 4, 1982). This situation left the product in a very bad position - no one wanted to use Tylenol in case there had been some tampering with the product. Johnson & Johnson had done nothing to betray the public's trust in the company, or its products; yet that trust, a great deal of revenue, and a large market share segment were gone (Fortune, Nov. 29, 1982). One horrible event and the excessive media coverage that followed, put Johnson & Johnson in a position where it needed to salvage its image and revenues even though the company had done nothing wrong.

Americans were bombarded with information about the Tylenol incident. One news service said "the Tylenol story had resulted in the widest domestic coverage of any story since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy" (Goadner, 1982, p. 71). The volume of information pertaining to the cyanide-induced deaths was incredible. The fact that the story re

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damaged the corporation's sense of itself and its mission. The linking of the product with these deaths and with the bizarre aspects of the case was particularly devastating to the company image, quite aside from any damage to corporate earnings. If Johnson & Johnson had been in a less morally defensible position in any respect, it is likely that they would have been ill-equipped to deal with the repercussions of the poisoning incident. Because it was clear that Johnson & Johnson had consistently taken a strong ethical and moral stance, it was easy for the public to believe that they were innocent of any wrongdoing in this situation. However, if Johnson & Johnson had a history of poor business practices, or a reputation for negligent behavior, then it is possible that they would have never been able to recover from the Tylenol incident; they would have looked guilty no matter how much the weight of evidence was in their favor. If Johnson & Johnson had panicked and floundered in the wake of the tragic deaths, the repercussions could have extended far deeper into the company image and profits. However, the company took a level-headed and open approach to the problem and was eventually able to recapture most of Tylenol's marke

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