Tylenol or Toyota

This commercial aired about a month before the recent Toyota problems began earlier this year. Interestingly enough the very qualities that Toyota extolled in the commercial were called into question as the controversy was played out in the media. I was reminded of another company in trouble. In the fall of 1982, McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, was confronted with a crisis when seven people on Chicago's West Side died mysteriously. Authorities determined that each of the people that died had ingested an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule laced with cyanide. Unlike Toyota, Johnson & Johnson & Johnson's top management put customer safety first, before they worried about their companies profit and other financial concerns. The company immediately alerted consumers across the nation, via the media, not to consume any type of Tylenol product. They increased their quality control efforts to insure their product’s safety. Once they could confidently assure the safety of the product and its packaging they offered to replace all the product purchase prior the scare. As results of their efforts they actually increased their market share and their company’s reputation. Unfortunately Toyota did not remember the lessons of Tylenol and saw their stellar reputation become tarnished. There is a lesson for all of us in these two examples. How we handle patients concerns and quality control in our office will determine whether we come out a Tylenol or a Toyota.