THE TYLENOL CRISIS, 1982

In October of 1982, Tylenol, the leading pain-killer

medicine in the United States at the time, faced a
tremendous crisis when seven people in Chicago were
reported dead after taking extra-strength Tylenol
capsules. It was reported that an unknown suspect/s put
65 milligrams of deadly cyanide into Tylenol capsules,
10,000 more than what is necessary to kill a human.
The tampering occurred once the product reached the
shelves. They were removed from the shelves, infected
with cyanide and returned to the shelves .
In 1982, Tylenol controlled 37 percent of its market with
revenue of about $1.2 million. Immediately after the
cyanide poisonings, its market share was reduced to
seven percent.
Johnson & Johnson Decision Making
Once the connection was made between the Tylenol
capsules and the reported deaths, public announcements
were made warning people about the consumption of the
product.
Following the guidelines of protecting people first and
property second.
*Conducted an immediate product recall from the entire
country which amounted to about 31 million bottles and a
loss of more than $100 million dollars.

*Although Johnson & Johnson knew they were not

responsible for the tampering of the product, they
assumed responsibility by ensuring public safety first and
recalled all of their capsules from the market.
Johnson & Johnson re-introduce the product to the
market with the help of their decision making
Once the product was removed from the market, Johnson
& Johnson had to come up with a campaign to reintroduce its product and restore confidence back to the
consumer.
1. Tylenol products were re-introduced containing a
triple-seal tamper resistant packaging.
2. In order to motivate consumers to buy the product,
they offered a $2.50 off coupon on the purchase of
their product. They were available in the newspapers
as well as by calling a toll-free number.
3. To recover loss stock from the crisis, Johnson &
Johnson made a new pricing program that gave
consumers up to 25% off the purchase of the
product.