Tylenol Murders
A Public Relations Case Study
Candice Korecki
BUS 114 – Communication Law & Ethics
McCracken
Monday, December 9, 2013
Table of Contents
Tylenol Murders .......................................................................................................... 1
Historical Perspective .............................................................................................. 1
Tactics .................................................................................................................... 3
Ethical and Legal Issues ........................................................................................... 5
Recommendations ................................................................................................... 6
References .......................................................................................................... 8
Tylenol Murders
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C. Korecki | A00049396
Tylenol Murders
A Public Relations Case Study
Historical Perspective
In 1982, the painkiller medication company, Tylenol was the most successful over-the-counter
product in the United States. This brand was responsible for 19% of its parent company’s profit,
which was Johnson & Johnson. As a market leader for painkiller products, Tylenol held roughly
37% of the market, and competed with brand such as Anacin, Bayer, Bufferin, and Excedrin.
In September, the first contamination occurrence for this popular brand occurred in Elk Grove
Village, Illinois, with the death of a 12-year-old girl. Suffering from symptoms of a head cold,
her parents gave her one Tylenol Extra Strength capsule to ease her discomfort but found her
hours later on the bathroom floor. Frantic, the young girl was rushed to the hospital only to be
pronounced dead.
The same day, a young man was found on the floor of his home and rushed to the hospital in an
attempt to revive him, but he died upon arrival. That evening, family members gathered to mourn
his early passing, where his brother and his fiancé suffered from terrible headaches. The
deceased’s brother found Tylenol Extra Strength capsules in the house, and he and his fiancé
took the painkiller medication to ease the pain. Shortly after, both collapsed on the floor of the
house, where family members called an ambulance. Unfortunately the couple could not be
revived and both passed away within a few days.
Toxicology reports had confirmed that each victim had consumed capsules from the Tylenol
bottles that were laced with cyanide. After local Chicago firefighters made the connection,
McNeil Consumer Products was alerted to the deaths and the connection to their product,
Tylenol Extra Strength.
Understanding the crisis and danger to public health, McNeil completed a massive recall of their
product and informed all related publics about the potential dangers of the Tylenol Extra
Strength brand. The company recalled nearly 31 million bottles, and Johnson & Johnson issued a
nation-wide alert to the public about the brand. Although diligent in their efforts, three more
people died in early October 1982 from the contaminated product.
Tylenol Murders
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Fear swept over the country, particularly in Chicago, as people began to flood hospitals, medical
clinics and telephone hot lines about possible poisoning and concerns about Tylenol. A majority
of retailers removed Tylenol products from their shelves as well as products with similar serial
numbers as precautionary measures.
Product safety inspections were conducted in the plants where the contaminated bottles were
produced to see whether the cyanide was introduced into the production method at this level of
the distribution chain. Law enforcement officials determined that the Tylenol bottles were tainted
at the storefront level, and that the perpetrator would fill the bottles with the cyanide-laced
capsules only to return them to the store afterwards. No evidence or suspects to this crime had a
continuous effect on the public’s fear and the Tylenol brand image.
From this crisis, Johnson & Johnson developed a tamperproof packaging for the Tylenol brand
that would make it harder to tamper with the product and so that a similar crisis wouldn’t happen
again. The Tylenol brand was essentially ruined overnight and the reputation of Johnson &
Johnson, and brand manufacturers like McNeil, were at stake. The brand was faced a critical
problem: people all over the world once trusted Tylenol, but now the brand associated with
death. Johnson & Johnson needed to find a way to deal with the tampering of their most
profitable product without destroying the reputation of the brand or the company.
Public safety is the first and foremost objective of product-line of painkiller medication, like
Tylenol. This crisis opened the eyes of the companies and the public alike in terms of
understanding how important precautionary methods are when dealing with medical products.
Competing in the pharmaceutical industry, all firms need to recognize that the responsibility for
producing safe products rests entirely on their shoulders.
The crisis management for the Tylenol contamination case is one of the best forms of proactive
and effective public relations. This case demonstrates how companies can effectively
communicate with various publics and manage time or resources when faced with a crisis.
As a student studying public relations, this case illustrates the use of a popular company as a
criminal, and how through developing an effective communication strategy, this company was
able to improve its reputation and regain its prominence in the marketplace.
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Tactics
The crisis that Johnson & Johnson and the McNeil Consumer Products Company faced during
the fall of 1982 was a devastating public relations problem that no company had been confronted
with at this point in history.
Johnson & Johnson was taken by surprise and although there was no crisis prevention method
established prior to this incident, the company responded effectively and promptly to eliminate
the nation-wide crisis. The overall guideline for the campaign was to terminate the crisis as
quickly as possible, while limiting the brand damage and restoring the company’s credibility
with the public.
Tactic: Full collaboration with the media
In the beginning, Johnson & Johnson had little information and facts about the incident, and
relied on media sources to provide them with information. The company recognized the
importance of this relationship, and that the media could provide information to the public and
help prevent panic about the contamination.
The purpose of this tactic was to use various media outlets to inform the public about Johnson &
Johnson’s contamination crisis, and that the company was implementing efforts that were
focused on the company’s consumers. This consumer-focused approach demonstrated that the
company was concentrated on the health and well being of its consumers rather than profits and
the bottom-line.
Tactic: Release of information
Although information about the incident was limited for Johnson & Johnson, the company
approached the media with solid facts and did not speculate about the crisis. Information about
the McNeil facility including the manufacturing practices and procedures was provided to the
public. During the crisis, the facility was shut down and teams were dispatched to inspect and
report on their findings, which was also made available to the public. Press conferences and
news releases were open and concerned for the public, and the company did not adopt a
“defensive” attitude towards the media.
Johnson & Johnson maintained open, clear and credible communications with all of its publics to
provide consistent information to the public, and to avoid rumors that may have been created
during the crisis. The company’s straightforwardness and consistent approach to information
demonstrated the honest and compassionate nature of Johnson & Johnson to the public.
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Tactic: Recall all associated products and withdraw advertising efforts
Tylenol was the most profitable brand in the Johnson & Johnson portfolio at this time in the
company’s history, which resulted in a large level of brand awareness and public interest. At the
time of the crisis, Johnson & Johnson urged consumers across the nation to stop using their Extra
Strength Tylenol products. Although information had been discovered throughout the crisis that
the contamination did not occur at the manufacturing plant, Johnson & Johnson recalled the
Extra Strength line from the public. The company also recalled other Tylenol lines to protect the
public and ensure that the contamination had not spread to other product lines. As soon as the
recall was issued, the company informed medical professionals about the product’s
contamination and its removal from store shelves so that these individuals were not prescribing a
product that could be fatal. The company also suspended all Tylenol advertisements and
marketing efforts to reduce the attention on the product.
Johnson & Johnson used this tactic to further demonstrate the importance of providing high
quality products to consumers. The company was willing to recall their most profitable product
line from the public, regardless of the financial impact it would have on the company.
Tactic: Engage the public
Although information had been release during the crisis that the contamination had not occurred
at the manufacturing level, Johnson & Johnson resisted the temptation of disclaiming any
connection between its Tylenol line and the murders in Chicago. Understanding that the public
would still associate their product with the murders, the company acted proactively with various
efforts to engage the public to help in their crisis. Johnson & Johnson posted a reward for the
perpetrator responsible for the contamination of the Tylenol product line, and also offered
rewards to individuals who could provide information about the culprit that would help the
authorities with the case of the Chicago murders. The company also commissioned a nation-wide
opinion survey to gather information from consumers about the Tylenol poisonings.
The purpose of this tactic was to help gather more information for both the authorities and the
company, to find the perpetrator responsible for these crimes. Offering rewards for information
is often a good motivation for people to come forward with information about a particular
situation, and Johnson & Johnson attempted to capitalize on this concept.
Open, honest and consistent communications with the public was a critical element of the crisis
management that Johnson & Johnson employed. The tactics that the company used helped limit
the damage to the Tylenol brand while helping to restore some of the company’s credibility.
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Ethical and Legal Issues
The Code of Ethics for Johnson & Johnson, as outlined on their website, explains the importance
of ethical decision-making when dealing with the safe use and consumption of their products.
The decisions made by Johnson & Johnson regarding their products focuses on the interests of
their patients, which includes their families, doctors, nurses and other health care providers.
During the 1982 contamination crisis in Chicago, Johnson & Johnson believed that maintaining
trust and high product standards of their most-profitable brand, Tylenol, were critical concerns
for the company and their overall brand image to the public. The issue that Johnson & Johnson
faced throughout the crisis was whether or not the company was responsible for the tampered
products available to consumers at the retail level.
Established early in the crisis, the McNeil Consumer Products Company was not responsible for
the contamination of cyanide in the Tylenol bottles at the manufacturing stage of the product.
However, Johnson & Johnson believed that their first priority was the well being of their patients
and consumers. The McNeil Company completed a nation-wide product recall that amounted to
nearly 31 million bottles at a cost of over $100 million dollars to Johnson & Johnson. The
Tylenol product recall also had a devastating negative impact on the company’s stock price and
the public’s confidence in Johnson & Johnson brand.
Although the McNeil facility controlled the distribution of the Tylenol product in Chicago, each
retail location is typically responsible for the security of the products within their store. The
investigation that occurred during the crisis did provide details on how the culprit was tainting
the Tylenol bottles with the cyanide-laced tablets: the suspect would enter a store location with a
Tylenol bottle that was previously purchased, and switch the cyanide-laced bottle with one from
the shelf.
Johnson & Johnson made their communication clear that the McNeil Company was not
responsible for the tampering of the Tylenol product, but as a result of their product being used
in the murders of seven Chicago residents, Johnson & Johnson assumed responsibility for the
safety of the public. As the Johnson & Johnson code of ethics describes, the fundamental
principle and the responsibility of a company that provides pharmaceutical products to the public
is the well-being and safety of these individuals.
The successful crisis management by Johnson & Johnson was a result of their fast response and
positive actions to the contamination of their top-profiting brand, Tylenol. Johnson & Johnson
acted decisively and stayed true to their company, which put their patients and customers above
anything else including a recall costing upwards of $100 million dollars. At the core of this
crisis, Johnson & Johnson used the power written in their credo by placing the company’s
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responsibility in maintaining the ethical safety of the public and to help instill trust and
confidence to keep the Tylenol brand alive.
Recommendations
No company to date was confronted with the crisis that Johnson & Johnson faced in the fall of
1982, where their most profitable product line, Tylenol, had been involved in a number of
murders in the Chicago area due to cyanide contamination. Although it was discovered later in
the investigation that Johnson & Johnson was not at fault for the contamination, the company did
handle the crisis to the best of their ability at this time. However, the availability of information
and the accuracy of these sources had been overlooked by Johnson & Johnson during this
situation
Johnson & Johnson was often scrutinized throughout the crisis about being ill informed about
their own operations and providing inaccurate information to the public. Because of the nature of
the crisis, many of the employees at Johnson & Johnson were uncertain about the specific
procedures and manufacturing processes associated with the Extra-Strength Tylenol product. At
the beginning of the crisis, it was discovered that many of the employees at the McNeil
production plant were unaware about cyanide being on the premise, which was the
contaminating agent used in the Chicago murder cases.
A Johnson & Johnson representative spoke on behalf of the McNeil Company, declaring that
there was cyanide substance on the premise of the McNeil plant. However, after completing
searches and safety measures at the production facility, there was in fact a small amount of
cyanide located at the facility that was in the process of being disposed. The discovery of this
information led to confusion and skepticism from investors, the media, and the general public.
During a crisis, a company must act quickly and decisively to take control of the information
circulating about their brand/product. This step is crucial to the effective management of a crisis
and the reputation management of the company. Keeping key members up-to-date on
information will help determine messages and the execution strategies to use to communicate
these messages to all intended publics.
In the case of Johnson & Johnson, the company had established a crisis prevention team but was
not proactive in their search or control of the information about the Tylenol product
contamination. The company relied on the information discovered through the investigation and
media coverage of the McNeil facility, rather than uncovering information from internal
resources.
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Johnson & Johnson should have developed a prevention method or a thorough pre-crisis protocol
long before the crisis occurred in Chicago. Although the brand faced diminishing market share
and stock prices, Tylenol worked diligently to communicate to the public to avoid panic. If
Johnson & Johnson had established a crisis prevention program prior to the incident, the
company would have been able to combat the attacks from the media about their lack of
knowledge regarding the deaths of Chicago residents, as well as prevent damage to the
company’s trust, credibility and public image.
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References
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Gibson, Dirk. (2013). Consumer Product Recall Public Relations Tactics. University of New
Mexico Department of Communication & Journalism. Retrieved
http://www.unm.edu/~dirkcgib/tactics.pdf
Johnson & Johnson. (2013). Ethical Code for the Conduct of Pharmaceutical Medicine. Johnson
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Kaplan, Tamara. (1998). How Effective Public Relations Saved Johnson & Johnson. The Tylenol
Crisis. Retrieved
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all. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/yourmoney/23iht-mjj_ed3_.html
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Schmidt, Oliver. (2013). Top tips: The 10-point guide to effective employee communication
during a company crisis. Melcrum. Retrieved from
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Smith, Ron. (2003). Johnson & Johnson Tylenol Cyanide Crisis. Buffalo State College Public
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