BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

Here we go again. An activist coalition has reported that many children's bath products contain chemicals that may cause cancer and skin allergies. As a result, the news media, members of Congress and plaintiffs attorneys are in a feeding frenzy.

Just like the recent scare over salmonella in peanut products and the 2007 toy-import recalls, even brands proven to be free of the chemicals will likely suffer collateral reputational damage as fearful parents avoid buying any children' s bath products "just to be safe."

Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Colgate and other major brands find themselves on the hit list of the coalition that released the report - the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of environmental and health groups that includes the Breast Cancer Fund and the Environmental Working Group.

The campaign' s report found formaldehyde and 1.4 dioxane in the baby products, ranging from shampoo and bubble bath to skin lotions. Formaldehyde - considered a probable carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency - is released from the products as the preservatives in them break down over time. 1,4-dioxane, which in trace amounts prevents infections, is also considered a probable human carcinogen by the EPA. Scientists say both chemicals are known to be dangerous only when exposure is extended over a very long period of time and in amounts far greater than that found in the bath products.

Aside from whether the coalition' s report will prove to be credible, there' s another important issue at play here.

As recent experience shows, consumer-product companies today must be ready to not just defend products that may be tainted. They also MUST be prepared to aggressively protect brands not targeted against the assumption that they are also contaminated simply because they' re in the same category as a contaminated product. Peanut butter brands including Jiff and Skippy suffered huge sales losses for months even though those products were declared perfectly safe and they had no connection with the salmonella-laden peanut paste from the Peanut Corporation of America. To this day, not a single on of Hasbro's toys have been found to be contaminated with lead paint. But in 2007, the toymaker suffered alongside Mattel when that competitor' s toys were recalled.

Increasingly, innocent corporate bystanders are being damaged when their competitors' products are blasted in the news media. Companies must be ready to launch counter-offensive communications strategies to minimize harm to their brands.