5 brands that survived reputation hell

It can be hard for a brand to recover its reputation after a crisis. The speed with which it recovers depends on:

Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol recall (1982)

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson was in the center of a major crisis. Seven people around Chicago suddenly died. The link between the deaths was that all the victims took a Tylenol a few hours before they died.

Authorities tested the Tylenol bottles, and discovered high levels of potassium cyanide in the pills. The eight affected bottles came from different factories and stores.

Johnson & Johnson issued warnings to distributors and medical professionals, and set up a nationwide recall of Tylenol (31 million bottles, costing the firm $125 million). Johnson & Johnson also set up a hotline, and inspected its factories to be sure the problem hadn’t originated there.