Have you ever wondered why opening a new bottle of medicine is akin to breaking into Fort Knox?
Today I’d like to discuss a famous example of what Kent might consider a “fall/rise” narrative, which he describes as “the rise and fall story so common among politicians, entertainers, celebrities, etc… The story can recount either the rise, or the fall, or both. Rise and fall stories have been used extensively for propaganda purposes, and for marketing and reputation building activities” (485).
In 1982, bottles of Tylenol were laced with cyanide in and around the Chicagoland area, leading to the deaths of 6 people. Although I was a small child at the time, I remember the Tylenol panic vividly — everyone, including my family, threw away their Tylenol bottles, and it was the number one topic of conversation at work, church, school, and on TV. No one knew where or how the bottles were contaminated; Tylenol was able to prove conclusively, with government backing, that it occurred after leaving the factory. The perpetrator was never caught.
This was a public relations disaster. Pundits began predicting the downfall of Tylenol, once the most popular pain reliever in the US. Removed from store shelves, sales of Tylenol dried up overnight, as no one — not McNeil Consumer Products (the manufacturers), not the police, and not the general public — knew if the once-trusted medication was safe to ingest.
McNeil Consumer Products took a proactive role during the ensuing scandal, issuing warnings, removing medication from shelves, offering free replacements to anyone who turned in their pills to authorities, and offering a reward for information. They also introduced a number of important measures to counteract the effect of the poisoned pills: tamper-proof packaging; pills that were harder to tamper with; and price reductions for the consumer. The safety measures became an industry standard and still impacts how medication is packaged. These measures worked — not only was the company’s flagship product rescued, but the resulting reporting in the news media was largely positive in McNeil’s favor. From a quick and unexpected fall, Tylenol’s redemption narrative arc has had global consequences. McNeil’s PR response remains a case study for business schools today.
In the latest issue of Strategies & Tactics, published by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), David Grossman writes, in “A Change of Heart,” that many leaders, during the pandemic and racial unrest, met the moment by realizing that “their messages to employees had to be taken seriously. Rather than drafting press releases that sounded relatively empty, many stepped up and relied on communication as a force for good — and for driving needed change” (10). He argues for the use of public relations as a means to “advocate for employees and help leaders lead with heart during this new reality” (10).
The publication of this column in the PRSA’s industry magazine acts as an implicit acknowledgement of the public perception of PR as “empty press releases” and other devices which maintain a status quo tilted towards power and inequality. Indeed, the power of PR to uphold power imbalances is hard to dispute; witness American elections, where people often vote against their own self-interests to keep those in power who have little actual interest in advancing their constituents in any meaningful way. PR professionals must be attentive to their ability to sway and influence individuals in ways which are harmful; doing otherwise is a serious breach of ethics.
Barbara Shaddix 