I ’m sure some readers will recall the great Tylenol scare of 1982. Over the course of a few days, seven people died in Chicago from taking cyanide-laced capsules, which affected sales of one of Johnson & Johnson’s most popular products. Though the lead suspect was never charged with planting the poisoned capsules, he served 13 years for extortion after demanding $1 million to put a stop to the murders.
Drug executives predicted that Johnson & Johnson’s net income would take such a serious hit that the company would never survive the tragedy. In less than a year, however, Johnson & Johnson rescued the Tylenol brand by creating tamper-resisting packaging. It then used intense advertising and promotion to save the company. Most observers of the industry cite the Tylenol response as one of the best corporate recovery plans in history.
Last week, the national Republican Party took its worst political hit in 20 years in Alabama, where a Democrat was elected to the U.S. Senate in a state that is as Republican as any state could be. Saddled with an unattractive candidate, Roy Moore, and poor organization, Republicans were pummeled by an outpouring of women and minority voters. The loss of the seat to a Democrat wasn’t just a local political event. It will have repercussions for at least the next year, and maybe longer.
The Tylenol tragedy was a case study of how a company saved one of its brands. The question for Republicans is whether the party of Lincoln can clean up its act and make its brand attractive to generations of voters who have stuck with it but are now jumping ship. One significant number coming out of the Alabama special election is that over 20,000 Republican voters wrote in other names in obvious disgust with their party. Another exit poll statistic involved confidence in President Trump. That poll showed an even 48-48 split over the president’s performance in office in a traditionally deep-red Republican state.
Republican leaders have now been thrust into crisis, and it’s appropriate to ask whether they have a game plan to get out of it. Desperate to get any legislation signed by Trump, Congressional Republicans are sticking with him even though he’s wildly unpopular, knowing that there may be a big price to pay in 2018. Voters around the country are angry at the government and at the party in power, and each week that’s being proven in big and little ways.