Johnson & Johnson Sues America Red Cross

Medical supplies company Johnson & Johnson has made a major public relations error. The company has decided that the American Red Cross is infringing on the red cross J&J uses on its products. Now, there is some legal room for argument that J&J is making, and closer review of the details of the case may well support the company. That said, the American Red Cross is the one organization in the country most Americans will support anytime, anywhere. This case could cost J&J whatever respect the public carries for it.

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 but got its non-profit charter from Congress only in 1900. J&J incorporated in 1887 and started using the red cross symbol on its products the same year. Clara Barton, the ARC’s founder, cut a deal allowing J&J to use the symbol for commercial purposes and the ARC to use it for non-profit activities. The red cross was adopted by the predecessors of the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent in 1863.

J&J is bitching about disaster kits and such that the Red Cross sells through third parties. The New York Times reports, “The American Red Cross licensees include Learning Curve, which sells first-aid kits at Target and other retailers; Water-Jel Technologies, which places the cross on a hand sanitizer product; and Magla, which uses the cross on medical examination gloves, according to the lawsuit, which named several licensees as defendants.”

President of the American Red Cross, Mark W. Everson, said his organization gets a fee from these licensed products. His estimate of the charity’s cut is less than $10 million a year. J&J has given the ARC $5 million over the past 3 years. In a press release, Mr. Everson said, “For a multi-billion dollar drug company to claim that the Red Cross violated a criminal statute that was created to protect the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross—simply so that J&J can make more money—is obscene.” He also said, “The Red Cross products that J&J wants to take away from consumers and have destroyed are those that help Americans get prepared for life's emergencies. I hope that the courts and Congress will not allow Johnson & Johnson to bully the American Red Cross.”

J&J should withdraw the suit if it has a brain in its corporate head. It may well be right under the law, but it’s going to be crucified in the court of public opinion. When a tornado hits, when a river floods, when there’s an earthquake, the American Red Cross is right there to aid the victims. J&J isn’t. At the end of the day, the company would have been better coming out against puppies, motherhood and the founding fathers.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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