It seems that elephants are not the only ones to never forget.
People too are quick to recall events long past – especially when they are associated with good or bad memories.
There is a long list of corporate scandals that still resonate today. Union Carbide 1984, the Herald of Free Enterprise 1987, the Exxon Valdez 1989, Shell Brent Spar 1995, Enron Corporation 2001. The list goes on and on.
People are simply not prepared to forgive or forget irresponsible corporate behaviour.
At the same time, society is also willing to remember the instances when business has done the right thing. Johnson & Johnson, for example, is still revered by many in the pharmaceutical sector for the way it handled the “Chicago Tylenol Murders”.
This incident occurred in 1982 when seven people died after taking pain-relief medicine capsules that had been poisoned. The deaths involved Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules, which had been laced with potassium cyanide.
In immediate response, Johnson & Johnson distributed warnings to hospitals and distributors and halted Tylenol production and advertising. Within a week of the first death, it issued a nationwide recall and withdrew from sale an estimated 31 million bottles of the product with a retail value of over US$100 million. The company also advertised in the national media for individuals not to consume any products and offered to exchange all Tylenol capsules already purchased.
The company took a big financial hit over the incident; but gained much positive media coverage for its handling of the crisis. Inside Johnson & Johnson they still hold up the corporate response to this incident as an example of the right way to behave.
It is a good thing to do so. And others, like Meredith Alexander, will continue to cause problems for companies that are not seen to uphold their responsibilities – more than a quarter of a century after the event.