Johnson & Johnson—one of the world’s most trusted brands in health care products—has taken a major hit to its reputation this year.
In February, J&J carried a YouGov BrandIndex Buzz score of 18. The figure measures positive and negative sentiment surrounding a brand. The brand’s score has fallen significantly—dropping to 5.4 earlier this month.
The cause for the drop? A series of lawsuits that claim talcum powder, such as its iconic baby powder, are linked to an increase in being at risk for ovarian cancer. Last year, a St. Louis jury ruled against J&J in a negligence lawsuit. A plaintiff was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and the brand was slapped with $62 million in punitive damages.
More than 1,000 similar cases are pending.
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A J&J spokesman responded to the YouGov scores in a statement:
We recognize that reputation tracking is done most effectively over a long horizon and we manage our activities accordingly. We are steadfast in our commitment to put the safety of our consumers first. We are confident in more than 20 years of science and regulatory review, and we intend to continue to aggressively educate the public using the scientific evidence that supports the safety of talc.
Bloomberg reports that the company has spent more than $5 billion since 2013 to settle legal claims made against its products.
The brand faced similar scrutiny in 2011 after claims that its popular baby shampoo was “gently poisoning babies.”
Will Johnson & Johnson’s sales suffer, PR Daily readers?
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ReplyDeleteYes Vincent you are right but now a days we heard lot of news about the baby powder causes ovarian cancer,so in my point of view it is right.
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