No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of physical illness, mental illness, substance use, death by suicide, and death.

The smell of Johnson’s Baby Powder is incredibly distinctive. Since parents—typically mothers—use it on their children, people create emotional bonds with that distinctive smell from infancy. This creates a high level of trust in Johnson & Johnson. Similarly, the myth that Johnson & Johnson responded quickly and recalled Tylenol following poisonings in the Chicago area in 1982 makes the company seem honest and reliable. Gardiner describes these stories as “the company’s defining narratives” (4).

In Chapter 2, Harris gives a brief history of Johnson & Johnson’s origins. During the American Civil War, Robert Wood Johnson’s parents sent him to Poughkeepsie, New York, to serve as an apprentice apothecary to his cousin, James G. Wood. James taught Johnson how to make medicinal plasters, “an early combination of bandage, cast, and medicated patch” (6). After his apprenticeship, Johnson moved to New York City and in 1873 began to manufacture medicinal plasters with his partner, George J. Seabury. Johnson began to develop antiseptic dressings in 1876. His younger brothers joined the business. In 1885, Seabury left the business. The Johnsons reestablished the company in New Brunswick as Johnson & Johnson.