Effective Communications Case Study - Tylenol

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Effective Communication Case Study - Tylenol In the fall of 1982, after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol laced with cyanide, seven people were pronounced dead. Mary Kellerman 12 years old from Elk Grove, Illinois, Adam Janus 27 years old from Arlington Heights, Illinois, Adam's brother Stanley, 25, and his wife Theresa, 19, Mary Reiner, 27, from Winfield, Paula Prince, 35, found dead in her Chicago apartment, and Mary McFarland, 31, from Elmhurst, Illinois were all killed after taking the cyanide-laced Tylenol. The causes of these deaths were not known right away, and it was only after two off-duty fireman, Philip Cappitelli and Richard Keyworth, were exchanging information did they realize that Tylenol was a mentioned in two of the reports (Tift, 1982). The Tylenol bottles were gathered up and tested after the two firemen told their superiors about their assumptions. Testing revealed that the Tylenol in question contained 65 milligrams of cyanide, the amount needed to kill a person is five to seven micrograms. Once this was known, the country was warned about the danger of taking Tylenol, and police drove through Chicago announcing the warning over loudspeakers. All three major television networks ran stories on the dangers of Tylenol and the connections to the seven deaths. The Food and Drug Administration even warned the country not to take Tylenol (Kowalski, 1999). With this type of problem on Johnson & Johnson's hands, the company needed to act quickly. The company needed to effectively address both internal and external publics.

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