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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1983)
Wednesday, August 24,1983/The Battalion/Page 19 'ylenol on top scare nited Press International . ‘ NEW YORK — “I was kind of •tewasthe ipiag this anniversary would at 'k and wtlaway, to tell you the truth,” 1 ofaballpBlBoard Chairman James threwafei Jrke of Johnson & Johnson. ^ e api(chfr]lt was last Sept. 29 that the Woody I st ol seven Chicago residents ce in aqiiar<Bn agony from cyanide in- ■l in Tylenol capsules, the »l their r^B ry ’ S mOSt P°P ular P ain i e ‘ '' ^ The deaths and the resultant "f jtional panic, which prompted M ^company to withdraw Tyle- Hom the market temporari- toadd tamperresistant pack- H, are still raw in the mem- lof officials at Johnson & hnson s corporate headquar- I I i r' n ^ ew ^ riinsw ' c ^> N.J. I C J Before the cyanide scare, l82|ooked to show record pro- ™jfor the pharmaceutical nt. The annual report instead is titled, “An eventful year,” d its cover featured a tiny pic- Jof a Tylenol bottle. No fcr comment seemed neces- >’• There may never have been ite a comparable trauma, ine cabinets throughout )untry were stripped of delol. Even David Clare, hnson & Johnson’s president, IHted he had “some hesita- m" the first time he tried to j|Bw a Tylenol after the inci- nts. “It isn’t that easy to put be- s,” Burke said in an inter- H“It still permeates the com- hurler Ve#)f ^ Llt no on e’s obsessed with :t 0 ryin F IJ m f ore -’’ . f tragedy in tact turned SHHR'i be a triumph of sorts for hnson & Johnson, justifying : company’s faith in its own put ation and management “1 definitely think Johnson & on is as strong as before,” j§oellen Fisher, an analyst the investment house of gan Stanley. “If anything, it solidified the company’s cor- Te strategy and their confi- ce and ability to deal with sity.” ylenol sank from 35 percent 1 pain reliever market share 7 percent after the Chicago iers. Johnson & Johnson’s Research showed half their r users did not intend to ti e product again. "t, 10 months after its re- to the market, Tylenol is again the Jeading pain re in the nation, having re- red about 80 percent of its tarket share. “It s been a remarkable recov- said Joseph France, who |ks the drug trade for Smith irney. “Sales have picked up at a more than $400 million tef He loss of Tylenol sales was t Johnson & Johnson’s only iuma this year. In March, the my recalled its prescrip- nalgesic Zomax after re surfaced of fatal allergic ictions to the drug, hey immediately pulled it the market, at an enormous nings penalty,” said France, (^estimated the Zomax with- wal cost Johnson & Johnson million in U.S. sales. The company recently re tted June quarter profits of 1.5 million, about even with same period last year. Sales TeSl.5 billion, up 4 percent. If Johnson & Johnson’s pro- were somewhat disappoint- rthe flat earnings were due re to mundane problems like strong U.S. dollar than to lenol repercussions, analysts id. JFhis is a company that’s real- seriously affected by currency aversions,” said Ms. Fisher. Johnson 8c Johnson’s re- N B FED, titv sponse to the Tylenol crisis was both conservative and radical. It moved quickly to shore up its reputation as a reliable family friend, and made it clear it was willing to risk a great deal of money to do so. “They did a very good job,” said Bruce Miller, senior vice president at Rabin Research Co., a Chicago marketing con sultant. “They operated very quickly. They were able to re capture consumer confidence by being very straightforward, and going to the heart of the matter—which was packaging.” Johnson & Johnson immedi ately recalled all Tylenol cap sules on the market, at a pre-tax cost of $100 million. It tested more than 8 million capsules, and fielded more than 2,000 calls from the press in the days following the poisonings. Six weeks after the tragedy, the company announced it was reintroducing Tylenol in a new triple-sealed container. Once the safety issue had been addressed, the company moved to get Tylenol back in America’s medicine cabinets quickly — before consumers re placed their hastily-discarded bottles of pain reliever with a competitor’s brand. The tragedy turned out to be a triumph of sorts for Johnson & Johnson, Justifying the company’s faith in its own reputation and management policies. Johnson & Johnson virtually offered a free bottle of Tylenol to any household that wanted one. It blanketed the country with newspaper coupons good for $2.50 off the price of Tyle nol — making the smaller bottles cost-free. A special hot line accepted calls from consumers who wanted coupons. Meanwhile, 2,250 Johnson 8c Johnson sales people made more than 1 million visits to physicians and other medical personnel, seeking support for the Tylenol reintroduction. The company regarded sup port from the medical commun ity as crucial since most Tylenol users first received the pain re liever in a hospital or reported it was recommended by a doctor. If he had to do it again, Burke says, he isn’t sure he’d do any thing differently, although he admits the individual decisions made in the days following the tragedy are a blur. “The thing that makes us feel best is — our philosophy of doing business was vindicated.” Johnson 8c Johnson is a de centralized company which per mits a great degree of freedom to its individual units. The company has a credo, written by late J&J Chairman Robert Wood Johnson, which stresses the social responsibility of business. “Every time business hires, builds, sells or buys it is acting for the people as well as for itself and must be prepared to accept full responsibility,” it says in part. Burke, who has made credo indoctrination sessions a re quirement for new management employees, referred to the prin ciples constantly when he announced Johnson 8c John son’s comeback plans last November, and urged consum ers “not to allow our lives to be ruled by acts of terrorism.” These days, he suggested, the credo seems less saccharine, “more pragmatic.” Since 1946 OAKWOOD MOBILE HOMES Corp AGGIES, want to own your own home? Let Ag-Coop student assist you with your lome needs. Lot locator service, straight answers and low 'p prices only at... OAKWOOD MOBILE Homes 775-6308 2349 Hwy. 21 E. Bryan Men’s & Ladies’ Diablo Running Shoe 99 Fr©©! Receive a free Nike t-shirt with the purchase of any pair of Nike shoes— while quantities last! \ Men’s & Ladies’ All Court Shoe Men's sizes 6V2-13 (#1754). Ladies’ sizes 5-10 (#1768) Academy Reg. Low Price...19.99 Hi or Lo Top Gamebreaker Court Shoe Men’s sizes 6 1 /2-13 (#7300). Ladies’ sizes 5-10 (#7412)*cademy Reg. 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