Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-11-23)

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BloombergBusinessweek November 23, 2020

approaching,thelatestis this:Forallitssuccessesinadapting
itsleanglobalsupplychaintoa hundred-yearplague,the
companystillhasn’tquitemanagedtomatchsupplyto
demand.“We’vebeenverytransparentaboutwhatwehave
andwhatwedon’thave,”saysReckittChiefExecutiveOfficer
LaxmanNarasimhan.“Insomecases,wedodisappoint.”

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ovidterrorwouldhavesoundedfamiliartosurvivors

of the cholera epidemics that swept much of the globe

in the mid-1800s. Outbreaks killed hundreds of thou-

sands of people who lacked access to clean water

in the U.S. and Europe. One killed 3,000 New York

residentsina matterofweeksandchasedtensofthousands

of people out of the city. By the end of the 19th century,

germ theory had for the first time pointed to microscopic

pathogens as the cause of infectious disease, and businesses

were promising new forms of chemical protection. In 1889

a German chemist named Gustav Raupenstrauch created

Lysol. During the snake-oil era, the early owners marketed

Lysol as everything from a household cleanser to, more trou-

blingly, a feminine-hygiene product.

Today’s owners have restricted Lysol’s use to surfaces,

not people. Besides the cans, the company sells disinfect-

ing wipes, which rely on milder quats; cleaning sprays for