It was one of the most prominent product recalls in the United States. Cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules. Firestone tires that allegedly peel off their casings, triggering blowouts and rollovers. Experts say consumers have a stubborn, long-term memory when it comes to companies that even inadvertently seemed to drag their feet about botched products. And in the vacuum of information, consumers easily grow suspicious, they added.
Consumers are pretty understanding people.
The swift action followed reports of several people who died in suburban Chicago after taking the pain-killing capsules. They were laced with the poison locally, not during the manufacturing process, investigators concluded. In the Tylenol case, quickly removing all the related capsules until company officials and health authorities could get a better handle on the crisis was the obvious right action to take, said Pittle, who is now senior vice president and technical director for Consumers Union, a non-profit group that tests consumer products and publishes Consumer Reports magazine. Putting consumer safety above all else can help develop a loyalty from the consumer. Of course, companies aren't the only ones that can put a recall into motion, as was the case with Firestone tires.