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Proposed Changes - S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Wax86 (talk) 16:31, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

S. C. Johnson & Son (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson, previously S. C. Johnson Wax and Johnson Wax) is an American multinational privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. In 2017, S. C. Johnson employed approximately 13,000 and had estimated sales of $10 billion. Despite its large size, the company remains privately owned by the Johnson family. H. Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO since 2004, is the fifth generation of the Johnson family to lead the company.

History
The company began 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 principle product was parquet flooring but it quickly added other floor care products like Johnson’s Prepared Wax, Johnson’s Dance Wax and Johnson’s Wood Dye. Management has since passed down through five generations of the Johnson family; which makes them one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the U.S.

Under the leadership of Herbert Fisk Johnson Sr., the company expanded worldwide and established its first subsidiary in England in 1914. In 1917, Herbert introduced profit sharing at a company-wide celebration where $35,000 was shared. At the ten-year anniversary of the company’s profit sharing program, Johnson explained his rationale “The goodwill of the people is the only enduring thing in any business. It is the sole substance…the rest is shadow!”

In 1932, SC Johnson introduced Johnson’s Glo-Coat which was the first self-polishing floor cleaner on the market. The success of Glo-Coat bolstered the company during the Great Depression. S. C. Johnson’s growing line of wax-reliant products necessitated Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr.’s 1935 expedition to Fortaleza, Brazil in an S-38 Amphibian plane 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; each episode featured an appearance by pitchman Harlow Wilcox. To maximize show time, Wilcox was written into the script as a Johnson's-obsessed friend of the McGees (Fibber nicknamed him "Waxy") who would show up mid-episode and managed to get an ad into his lines, often using extremely far-fetched segues for comedic effect. Common products advertised on the show were Johnson's Wax, Johnson's Glo-Coat, and Johnson's Car-Nu. During the 1950s, the company served as sponsor of the game show, The Name's the Same; alternating with Swanson. The company went on to co-sponsor Robert Montgomery Presents on NBC, and The Red Skelton Show on CBS.

In April of 1939, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed SC Johnson Administration Building opened. Speaking about his creation, Wright said “This building was designed to be as inspiring a place to work in as any cathedral ever was to worship in”. Its addition, the Research Tower, opened in 1950, and at 153 feet-tall was one of the world’s tallest buildings designed using the cantilever principle. In 1974, the SC Johnson Headquarters was designated a National Historic Landmark.

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, helped to introduce some of the company’s biggest products:  Glade,  OFF! and  Pledge.

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 and later known as Diversey, Inc. After several years away from the professional business, in 2015, S. C. Johnson acquired  Deb Group, a global industrial company focused on hygiene and skin care systems for the industrial, commercial, healthcare and food markets, to expand its presence in industrial and institutional markets. A year later the company announced a new line of SC Johnson Professional products at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN conference in Chicago.

In 2008, the company acquired Caldrea, Co, maker of upscale household cleaning products including the Caldrea and Mrs. Meyers Clean Day brands. In July 2016, the company signed an agreement to acquire Babyganics, a baby products company with products including skin care, oral care, sun care, insect repellent, diapers and wipes. In 2017 the company signed an agreement to acquire cleaning brands Method and Ecover.

In 2009, the company launched WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com listing ingredients in their products in North America. In 2012, it added a comprehensive list of fragrance ingredients, called SC Johnson’s Exclusive Fragrance Palette, used in its products. SC Johnson’s Exclusive Fragrance Palette excludes ingredients that don’t meet the company’s standards. May 2016, the company expanded its ingredient transparency program to Europe, including 25 countries and 20 languages added to its website. In May 2017, SC Johnson disclosed a list of 368 potential skin allergens in its products.