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In 1982, a killer filled Tylenol capsules with potassium cyanide and placed the bottles back on store shelves. Unsuspecting consumers purchased the tainted medicine and at least seven people died, with the killer unknown to this day.<\/p>\n
Tylenol, then owned by Johnson & Johnson, immediately launched a major PR and advertising effort<\/a> informing the the public not to take the drug, and stopped its own manufacture and promotion of Tylenol.<\/p>\n Six months later, they rolled out a new tamper-resistant packaging for the pills that remains the basis of what you\u2019ll find on store shelves today.<\/p>\n Anthony D\u2019Angelo, professor and public relations chair at Syracuse University, still teaches the 40-year-old crisis response in his classes.<\/p>\n \u201cEven today\u2019s students, who were far from being born, know about the Tylenol case,\u201d he said, calling it \u201cthe gold standard\u201d of crisis PR.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But now Tylenol is being tested again by the government\u2019s allegations \u2013 hotly contested by the scientific community \u2013 that there is a link between acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism. There are both key differences and similarities between the two cases, said Meghan Tisinger, managing director at Leidar USA<\/a>, which specializes in crisis comms.<\/p>\n \u201cBack then, the truth had time to catch up,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the problems with today \u2014 misinformation moves at the speed of a tweet. You can\u2019t respond to everything, because you\u2019re not only recalling products, you\u2019re recalling fear and rumor and outrage. You\u2019re doing this in real time. But what really hasn\u2019t changed is the fundamentals: acting on your values, leading with empathy, and making sure your behavior speaks louder than any press release would.\u201d<\/p>\n Tylenol\u2019s tactics so far include a pop-over statement on their website<\/a>, which begins with, \u201cWe stand with science and we stand with you,\u201d before going on to explain that, \u201cTylenol is one of the most studied medications in history\u2013and is safe when used as directed by expecting mothers, infants and children.\u201d An extensive FAQ on their website<\/a> points to outside groups, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Autism Science Foundation, who support Tylenol\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n Tisinger said this third-party validation can help in a situation like this \u2013- but it only goes so far.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Tylenol had their crisis in 1982, they wrote the textbook because it was all about quick action,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was about empathy. It was about human voice. Science organizations are going to give them credibility. They\u2019re going to help them. But at the end of the day, they have to have that human voice, and they have to start with really putting that moral authority on it: \u2018We understand that these claims cause fear. You deserve clarity, not confusion.\u2019 And then bring in those credible third-party medical voices \u2014 not the corporate spokesperson \u2014 to tell the story.\u201d<\/p>\n Using the PESTLE model in a crisis<\/p>\n The Tylenol case combines multiple modern-America storylines: the Make America Health Again movement, the clash between competing views over how science can be trusted, the government\u2019s intense involvement in private businesses. D\u2019Angelo suggests using the PESTLE model to examine the impacts from multiple angles and determine the best path forward:<\/p>\n Political \u201cAt a practical level, it\u2019s never going to be easy,\u201d D\u2019Angelo cautioned. \u201cBut if you look at it that way \u2014 what are all the forces acting on our business right now? Political, that\u2019s tough. How do we handle that? Social, where even medicine and science become political issues. What does that mean for how you communicate?\u201d<\/p>\n D\u2019Angelo also recommended looking to the 1982 killings as a source of inspiration for today.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat could also be learned from the 1982 case is that it\u2019s a real leadership test,\u201d he said. \u201cHow are we going to conduct ourselves in this situation? Despite all the noise in the channel \u2014 and man, is there a lot of noise \u2014 I still have faith that organizations that know their mission and conduct themselves according to it and are willing to bear the costs of fulfilling it, tend to turn out pretty well over time.\u201d<\/p>\n Tisinger took a slightly darker view of the situation, recalling the words of Richard Levick, considered the father of reputation management<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Facts will eventually win, but only if your voice is still standing when they do,\u2019\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
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