Burson-Marsteller 's handling of the Chicago Tylenol poisonings for Johnson & Johnson in September 1982 has been referred to as the " gold standard " for crisis management . Seven people in the Chicago area were killed when they took Tylenol capsules tainted with cyanide , and Johnson & Johnson went to Burson Cohn & Wolfe for advice on how to approach the situation . After an eighth death , which occurred in California , the response by Johnson & Johnson was to announce a nationwide recall of all Tylenol capsules . Burson Cohn & Wolfe organized a press conference televised across 35 markets in the United States , addressing the recall and reporting that the product tampering had occurred on the shelves , not during manufacturing . During late October 1982 , a brief television campaign was undertaken asking for the public to trust Tylenol , and Burson Cohn & Wolfe carried out nationwide polling which found that the majority of the population still had confidence in Johnson & Johnson . Ninety percent of respondents stated that they did not hold the manufacturer responsible for the deaths
Chicago Tylenol poisonings
Chicago Tylenol murders
Burson Cohn & Wolfe