In 1979 , the company was sold to the communications group Young & Rubicam . In his memoirs , Burson described the decision as being made for two primary reasons . First , Burson-Marsteller required capital in order to finance its expansion . Second , Marsteller 's advertising agency had declined in profitability and " needed management fixing " . Following the takeover , Burson became executive vice-president and a board member of Young & Rubicam . As part of Young & Rubicam in the late 1970s and early 1980s , Burson-Marsteller became known for its crisis management work . Notable clients consulting Burson-Marsteller for crisis management included : Babcock & Wilcox , following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 ; Johnson & Johnson , during the 1982 Tylenol crisis and Union Carbide Corporation following 1984 Bhopal disaster . The company was also involved in the introduction of New Coke in early 1985 . In interviews Burson has stated that the negative reaction of the public to the new product was unexpected . Following the reintroduction of the original Coke recipe , the strategy that Burson-Marsteller advised Coca-Cola to employ was to " be humble " and apologize to the U.S. public for making the decision to change to New Coke . Just two months after original Coke was reintroduced as Classic Coke , sales of Coke , Coca-Cola Classic and Cherry Coke had risen 10 percent compared with the previous year
Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
Burson Cohn & Wolfe