thumb|Former SC Johnson logo (1999–2018)|right|120px

S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson: a Family Company) is an American multinational corporation and privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals, headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin.

The company is owned by the Johnson family. H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO since 2004, is the fifth generation of the family to lead the company.

History

The company is among the oldest family-owned businesses in the U.S., beginning in 1886 when Samuel Curtis Johnson purchased the parquet flooring division from the Racine Hardware Manufacturing Company and named the new business S. C. Johnson. The company's principal product at that time was parquet flooring, later adding other floor care products such as Johnson's Prepared Wax, Johnson's Dance Wax, and Johnson's Wood Dye.

Under Herbert Fisk Johnson Sr., the company expanded worldwide, establishing its first subsidiary in the United Kingdom in 1914. Giving his employees credit for a successful year, Herbert gave them $35,000 in 1917. In 1932, SC Johnson introduced Johnson's Glo-Coat. The success of Glo-Coat bolstered the company during the Great Depression. S. C. Johnson's line of wax-reliant products necessitated Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr.'s 1935 expedition to Fortaleza, Brazil, to find a direct sustainable source of wax.

From April 1935 until May 1950, the company was the sponsor for the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show, officially known as The Johnson Wax Program. During the 1950s, the company served as sponsor of the game show The Name's the Same. The company went on to co-sponsor Robert Montgomery Presents on NBC, and The Red Skelton Show on CBS.

In April 1939, the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed SC Johnson Administration Building opened. Its addition, the Research Tower, opened in 1950. The SC Johnson Headquarters was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974.

The launch of Raid House & Garden Bug Killer in 1955 marked the company's first major departure away from wax-based products. Within the next few years, Sam Johnson, fourth generation leader, introduced some of the company's best known brands: Glade, OFF!, and Pledge.

In April 2018, the company updated its tagline from "A Family Company", which had begun in 1998, to "A Family Company at Work for a Better World". According to the company, the updated tagline is "A reminder that SC Johnson holds itself to a higher standard."

thumb|400x400px|Racine Hardware Manufacturing Advertisement, "The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine", November 1889

Acquisition milestones

  • In 1992, the company bought Drackett, manufacturer of Windex, Drāno, and other specialty cleaning products.
  • In 1998, S. C. Johnson expanded its roster of consumer brands when it purchased Dow Chemical's DowBrands division, which included Ziploc, Saran, Fantastik, and Scrubbing Bubbles.
  • In 1999, the commercial cleaning products and systems division separated from Johnson Wax and became a stand-alone company called Johnson Wax Professional, later known as Diversey, Inc.
  • In 2003, the company acquired four Bayer household chemical brands including Baygon, Bay Fresh, Bayclin, and Autan.
  • In 2008, the company acquired Caldrea, Co., maker of household cleaning products including the Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers Clean Day brands.
  • In 2011, the company acquired Kiwi shoe care brand from Sara Lee Corporation, thus also expanding its shoe care businesses after the deal.
  • S. C. Johnson acquired Deb Group in 2015. A year later the company announced a new line of SC Johnson Professional products at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN conference in Chicago.
  • In July 2016 the company signed an agreement to acquire Babyganics, a baby products company with skin care, oral care, sun care, insect repellent, diapers, and wipe products.
  • In 2017 the company signed an agreement to acquire cleaning brands Method and Ecover.
  • In December 2019, the company acquired the privately held Stasher company and its brand of reusable silicone food storage bags.

Ingredients

The company launched a website listing ingredients for their products sold in North America in 2009. Fragrance ingredients were added to the list in 2012. The company added the ingredients of its European products to the list in May 2016. In May 2017, SC Johnson disclosed a list of 368 potential skin allergens in its products.

Brand names

<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|right|Two bottles of S. C. Johnson & Son's Fantastik cleaning spray -->

Among the brands owned by S.&nbsp;C. Johnson & Son are the following:

Car care

  • Grand Prix (in some markets, known as Kit, Tempo (Mexico), and Carnu)

Household cleaning and scent products

  • Babyganics
  • Bayclin (Indonesia and Latin America)
  • Bayfresh (Southeast Asia)
  • Beanpod Soy Candles
  • Bon Ami (in Canada market)
  • Caldrea
  • Citresin (Czech Republic)
  • Drano (in Japan markets, known as Pipe Unish)
  • Ecover
  • Fantastik
  • Favor
  • Finis (South and West Asia)
  • Glade (in some markets, known as Gleid and Brise)
  • Held (Switzerland)
  • Janitor in a Drum
  • Kiwi Dranex Kleen (in Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore markets, known as Kiwi Kleen)
  • Lynn (Czech Republic)
  • Lysoform (known as FamilyGuard in Asian markets; marketed as a new product in response to the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • Method

S.&nbsp;C. Johnson & Son is the main sponsor of the Serra das Almas Private Natural Heritage Reserve in the states of Ceará and Piauí, Brazil. The reserve protects an area of the caatinga biome, including wild specimens of the carnauba palm tree (Copernicia prunifera), the source of carnauba wax.

On December 18, 2012, S.&nbsp;C. Johnson & Son began operation of two wind turbines at their largest manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. The turbines, in addition to the gas reclamation system in place at a nearby landfill, are estimated to produce enough electricity to completely power the facility.

In 2017, S. C. Johnson purchased the ecological product Ecover and Method brands on undisclosed terms. H. Fisk Johnson ordered an inquiry into the allegations, and told Tax Analysts that he learned "other details of the decisions they (the tax department) made that I didn't like. I didn't like what I heard." On December 15, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Case No. 10-2172, ruled that DeGuelle had alleged a valid claim that the company's discharge of him was part of the tax fraud scheme. DeGuelle's claim was reviewed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin with the Court ruling to dismiss the RICO lawsuit on the grounds of preclusion. The Court did not rule on SC Johnson's actions as they pertain to tax evasion, with Judge Stadtmueler stating that "the legality of SC Johnson's actions (and whether those actions did, in fact, occur) is of no importance to the Court's consideration of the defendant's motion for summary judgment."

S.&nbsp;C. Johnson & Son was one of 13 large consumer product companies who were together fined €948.9million by Autorité de la concurrence in France in 2016 for price-fixing on personal hygiene products. At the time, it was the largest single fine ever imposed by Autorité de la Concurrence.

In March 2022, S.&nbsp;C. Johnson & Son faced public scrutiny after its decision to continue to operate in Russia despite widespread sanctions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company was reported to have stopped new investments and scaled back unspecified operations as of April 1, 2022.

References

  • Company provided list of ingredients for Europe and North America
  • FamilyGuard