(electronica whooshing)
- [Computer Voice] Newsbreak.
- Five people are dead
and a sixth near death in the Chicago area
after they took Tylenol capsules
that had been laced with poison.
(rock music)
- Somebody went, put cyanide into the capsules
and seven people died in Chicago.
- Can I just say they never found the dude.
- It was like crazy.
Everybody just started throwing out their Tylenol, uh uh.
- [Tara] Tylenol is a pain reliever and fever reducer.
It is used to treat many conditions
such as headache, muscle aches, arthritis, back aches,
tooth aches, colds and fevers.
It is marketed as an effective painkiller
without the side effects of aspirin.
It originally was marketed towards physicians
and pharmacists
as a safer alternative to aspirin.
The brand Tylenol was created
with the development of Tylenol elixir for children in 1955.
The name was created
by using the letters of its main ingredient, acetaminophen.
The sales team at McNeil Laboratories,
which was founded by Robert McNeil formed this name.
McNeil Laboratories was purchased by Johnson & Johnson
in 1959 for 33-million dollars.
In 1960,
McNeil Laboratories sold their first non-prescription
called Tylenol under Johnson & Johnson.
Tylenol soon after
became one of Johnson & Johnson's
most popular over-the-counter drugs.
Tylenol sells a variety of self healthcare products
to tackle some of the most common issues of a cold or flu.
These include relieving pain, reducing fevers
and relieving the symptoms of allergies and coughs.
With the goal to become
the leader of the over-the-counter sales worldwide,
Tylenol has hundreds of different products.
- [Drew] In 1982, seven people were reported dead
from the use of Extra Strength Tylenol.
It was reported that the capsules had been tampered with
in the production process,
which means that someone
had purposely tampered with the capsules
by putting a 65-millimeter dose of cyanide
in each of the Tylenol capsules.
Cyanide is a poisonous chemical compound that has many uses,
but most notably had been used to poison
and kill humans throughout history.
There were seven people who were killed
in the 1982 Tylenol crisis, which included Mary Kellerman,
the first to be killed at only 12-years old,
who was found dead face down on the bathroom floor.
27-year old Adam Janus
died shortly after being admitted to the hospital.
Stanley and Theresa Janus,
brother and sister-in-law of Adam.
27-year old Mary Reiner,
who was taking Tylenol after giving birth a few days before.
A United Airlines stewardess Paula Prince
and the last victim Mary McFarland.
All the victims were from Illinois near the Chicago area.
It was discovered by two firefighters,
Philip Cappitelli and Richard Keyworth,
who discovered that each of the victims
had all taken Tylenol Extra Strength capsules.
- [Reporter] Five people are now dead,
one in critical condition
after taking Extra Strength Tylenol.
- [Laura] Johnson & Johnson
faced their worst nightmare in 1982.
People were dying from using their product
which had been tampered with.
The crisis team handled the poisonings in two phases,
while sticking to their credo.
The first call to action
came from Johnson & Johnson's PR team.
They alerted the public via the media
to immediately stop consumption of all Tylenol products.
Johnson & Johnson suffered 1.24-billion in losses
from the recall of over 31-million vials
of Extra Strength Tylenol.
Many people thought Tylenol
would never recover from this hit.
It is two of Johnson & Johnson's reaction
was the comeback phase.
The company took full responsibility for the deaths in 1982.
They wanted to inform the public
that Tylenol was still a safe and dependable product.
Tylenol came out with new packaging,
sealed lids
with the warning to not use if seal has been tampered with.
Coupons were given out and a new pricing program was set up.
Salespeople went to meet with the medical community
to put Tylenol back in the market.
By standing by their credo,
they were able to maintain their market share
as a solid competitor in the industry.
- [Aniello] Before September 29, 1982,
manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson
felt that if they made a good product
and dealt fairly with consumers, retailers and employees,
they can maintain a positive image
and be considered customer friendly.
The corporation had a positive image among its employees.
It was listed as one of the hundred best places to work.
The company credo was written by Robert Wood Johnson
in 1943.
The Johnson & Johnson creator emphasizes
putting the consumer first,
a concept that would make all the difference
during the mass Tylenol recalls in the early 80's.
The credo identifies four primary stakeholders
and addresses the company duties to each group.
These groups include consumers, employees, communities
and stock holders.
The credo sticks to serve consumers by keeping costs low,
so reasonable prices can be maintained
and promptly and currently servicing consumer order.
To address the needs of its employees,
the credo maintains
that Johnson & Johnson will provide a sense of job security,
fair and adequate compensation
and clean and safe working conditions.
Under addressing consumers and employees as individuals,
Johnson & Johnson credo goes on to address itself
within the community.
It defines good citizen as those who support good works,
charities and who accept their fair share of taxes
with the belief that this will encourage civic improvement
and lead to better health and education
within each community.
The last section of the Johnson & Johnson credo
addresses stockholders.
Johnson & Johnson emphasizes the importance of innovation
in generating a fair return for stockholders.
To develop new ideas,
Johnson & Johnson is committed to conducting research
and they're offering new programs,
purchasing new equipment and facilities
to aid in launching new products
and creating reserves for protection of adverse climate.
A small, but significant section of the credo
states that mistakes must be paid for.
This was blindly demonstrated
during the 1982 Tylenol recalls.
The Johnson & Johnson credo
that guided the company's crisis team through the ordeal
are saving the company's image,
even as news accounts reported
the company's Tylenol product was killing consumers.
The poisoning made it necessary for Johnson & Johnson
to launch a public relations program immediately
in order to save the integrity of both their product
and their operation as a whole.
Johnson & Johnson handling of the Tylenol tampering crisis
is considered by the public relation experts
to be one of the best in the history of public relations.
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