Procter & Gamble

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Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a global consumer product and pharmaceutical company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. P&G is the number one maker of household products in the United States. The company's three product lines are beauty care; health, baby and family care and household care. Brand names include Actonel, Always/Whisper, Braun, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Downy/Lenor, Folgers, Gillette, Iams, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Pringles, Tide and Wella. In the fiscal year ending in June of 2009, the company reported global sales of over 79 billion dollars and had 135,000 employees.

In 1999, P&G acquired the Iams Company, which manufactures and markets pet food. Brand names include Eukanuba and Iams dry and canned dog and cat foods. Iams also sponsors hunting.

Buzz/word-of-mouth marketing

"Tremor" for teens

In 2001, P&G started "Tremor," a word-of-mouth marketing program that recruited teens to "pitch" products from P&G and other companies to their friends. "Tremor now has enlisted 225,000 teens," reported BusinessWeek in mid-2006. "But a downside to Tremor has been that most of P&G's products target adults. That's why 80% of Tremor's work has been for outside clients, such as music and movie companies." [1]

"There's something truly creepy about the notion of marketers manipulating what ordinary people say to one another," writes Jeff Gelles. "As a parent, I'm especially concerned when the targets are teenagers like my daughters - which is why I decided to take a look inside Tremor," a Procter & Gamble website that has enlisted a quarter-million teenagers as "word-of-mouth" marketers. Tremor uses coupons, discounts, free downloads and product samples combined with "the usual online smarminess" to hook kids into spreading the word about their clients' products.

In October 2005, the nonprofit group Commercial Alert filed a complaint against Tremor with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The complaint criticized "P&G's policy of not requiring that connectors [the teen marketers] disclose their affiliation with the marketer," according to BusinessWeek. "Without such disclosure, Commercial Alert Executive Director Gary Ruskin sees the danger of the basic 'commercialization of human relations,' where friends treat one another as advertising pawns, undercutting social trust. ... [W]ord of mouth is such a new form of marketing that the agency hasn't yet developed a disclosure policy," but the FTC is expected to rule on the case in mid- to late-2006. [2]

"Vocalpoint" for moms

In 2005, P&G launched "Vocalpoint," another word-of-mouth program that BusinessWeek called "a state-of-the-art method for reaching the most influential group of shoppers in America: moms." By mid-2006, Vocalpoint had grown to 600,000 mothers with "large social networks." P&G provides Vocalpoint participants with "messages mothers will want to share," along with "samples, coupons, and a chance to share their own opinions with P&G." [3]

Again, P&G didn't require its mom marketers to disclose their relationship with the company to the people being pitched. P&G's Steve Knox, who heads both Tremor and Vocalpoint, claimed that the company was taking the "high road" in doing so. "We have a deeply held belief you don't tell the consumer what to say," he told BusinessWeek. However, the company does provide its stealth marketers with product pitches. Often, the pitch has a different message than the larger ad campaign. For example: [4]

In traditional ads for Dawn Direct Foam ... P&G stressed its grease-cutting power. But Vocalpoint moms were mailed packets showing the detergent and a smiling girl on the outside with these words in big letters: "Mom, can I help?" A pamphlet inside explained that the soap is so fun to use that kids would want to help out with the dishes. To reinforce the point, the packet included a little sponge in the shape of a child's foot, plus a dozen $1.50 coupons.

"We have to enable a conversation to take place," Knox says. "Kids not doing enough chores is a conversation taking place among moms."

Beinggirl

P&G describes their beingagirl site in the following way:

"Being a girl is like being part of a club where everyone knows what you're going through …at least on some level. Girls have fun. Girls have opinions. Girls have a lot of questions about stuff like PMS, dating, their bodies and even serious subjects like addiction and abuse – just about anything you can think of that has to do with being a girl.

That's why we created beinggirl – a place where girls can come together to learn, share, communicate with each other and have loads of fun with games, quizzes, polls and lots more. It's also THE place to be for the hottest free samples from Always and Tampax, to name a few. ...Beinggirl.com, for girls, by girls!"

Ad campaigns

P&G is a sponsor of Fox News.

CSR: A "deep, emotional bond" with shampoo

In July 2006, PR Week reported on P&G's new corporate social responsibility campaign, "Pantene Beautiful Lengths." The campaign encourages people "to grow, cut, and donate their hair to make wigs for women who have lost hair due to cancer treatment." It was launched on July 13, 2006, when actress Diane Lane had her hair cut on NBC's Today show, to donate to the P&G campaign. [5]

P&G's Anthony Rose told PR Week, "We created the program to form a deep, emotional bond between our consumers and Pantene. Increasingly, we are learning that mere awareness of the brand, its functionality, and performance are not enough." Rose credited P&G's PR firm, DeVries Public Relations, with the idea for the campaign. [6] DeVries has also promoted the industry group Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association's "Look Good, Feel Better" program with cancer survivors.

"My black is beautiful"

In August 2007, Advertising Age reported on P&G's new multi-brand campaign, "My Black Is Beautiful." The brainchild of P&G multicultural marketing director Najoh Tita Reid, the campaign seeks to "make all black girls and women" feel beautiful, while forging "a closer relationship between P&G brands and their black consumers." According to P&G research, "71% of black women feel they're portrayed worse than other women in media and advertising. Despite that, they spend on average three times more than the general market on beauty products." P&G was a month away from unveiling the campaign to employees in April 2007, when radio host Don Imus made his infamous racist remarks. P&G's Reid encouraged the company to pull its ads from Imus' show, in part to lay the groundwork for "Black Is Beautiful." Reid explained:

"We said, 'Let's start grass roots and work our way toward national advertising.' ... It's more authentic." The campaign included grants from P&G's Always and Tampax, "booklets likely to be distributed by Essence," and "a series of community discussions," organized in conjunction with women's groups.

Rent-a-researcher

According to a copy of a proposed settlement released by Senior Medical Professor Aubrey Blumsohn in December of 2005, the Sheffield University in Britain promised to pay him $252,000 if he would agree to leave his post and not make 'any detrimental or derogatory statements' about Sheffield or its employees. For several years, Blumsohn had been complaining of scientific misconduct, primarily in relation to a $250,000 research contract between Sheffield and P&G pharmaceuticals. Blumsohn claimed that the company had denied him access to key data and then tried to ghostwrite his analysis of it. Worse still, the university acted as an enforcer for the company in its efforts to conceal data and manipulate research conclusions. ,

Tobacco

P&G has a 1988 patent for an alternative nicotine delivery system, a dosing device to provide vaporized medication to the lungs as a fine aerosol, battery operated heater designed to deliver nicotine or a nicotine salt to satisfy the smoker's craving for nicotine.

Animal testing

Proctor & Gamble does animal testing.

Facility information, progress reports & USDA-APHIS reports

For copies of this facility's U.S. Department of Agriculture-Animal Plant Health Inspection (APHIS) reports, other information and links, see also Facility Reports and Information: Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio.

This information does not include animal testing contracted out to contract research organizations (CRO)s nor testing done outside of the U.S. Firms hire CROs to conduct animal toxicity tests for agrochemicals, petrochemicals, household products, pharmaceutical drugs and toxins. See also pharmaceutical industry, section 8 on contract research organizations.

Huntingdon Life Sciences

P&G is a former client of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS).

Animal cruelty & welfare violations

Iams investigation & experiments

For 10 months in 2002 and 2003, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) conducted an undercover investigation at Sinclair Research Center, a contract laboratory for Iams pet food. The investigation found dogs who had gone crazy from intense confinement in barren steel cages and cement cells. Sick dogs and cats were left to languish in their cages without veterinary care; including dogs who had had chunks of muscle hacked from their thighs. Dogs had also been surgically debarked. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found 40 violations of the Animal Welfare Act; including failure to provide veterinary care, pain relief, adequate space and proper training. Sinclair paid a penalty of $33,000. , After intense pressure from PETA and its supporters, Iams agreed to sever its ties with Sinclair Research Center and end invasive and terminal experiments on dogs and cats.

Iams also agreed to begin conducting in-home tests for food and nutrition experiments. However, they still keep up to 700 dogs in their Dayton, Ohio laboratory for non-invasive nutritional studies, to which they have refused access by PETA representatives. Iams has refused to end invasive experiments on non dog and cat studies. Iams funded an almost $200,000 two-year study at Purdue University that consisted of taping the tails of mice to the tops of cages to keep their hind legs suspended and cause muscular atrophy. They also fought the release of information from another university study in which a painful disease was induced in dogs. Animal groups have pressured Iams to conduct 100% non-invasive, cage free in-home testing only.

Other P&G product testing

According to In Defense of Animals (IDA), P&G claims to longer use dogs in product testing and to have reduced animal testing by 90%. However, they refuse to release numbers, species and specific information about tests it performs, even to its own shareholders. P&G still kills thousands of animals yearly in cruel and painful tests for trivial, unnecessary ingredients. See also Recent Procter & Gamble animal testing.

Boycotts

Global Boycott Proctor & Gamble Day

Global Boycott Proctor & Gamble Day is sponsored by Uncaged, a United Kingdom based animal advocacy group. It is usually held on the third Saturday of May as part of a worldwide campaign to publicize P&G's animal testing policies and educate consumers about cruelty-free shopping.

P&G Ad boycott against Air America Radio

Procter & Gamble refused to advertise on the progressive Air America Radio. In October 2006, around 90 companies, including Procter & Gamble, told ABC Radio Networks that they did not want their ads to play on radio stations that carried Air America Radio.

Political contributions

Procter & Gamble gave $305,500 to federal candidates in the 05/06 election cycle through its political action committee (PAC) - 16% to Democrats, 82% to Republicans, and 2% ($5,000) to independent Joseph Lieberman (I-CT).

Lobbying

The company spent $2,751,479 for lobbying in 2006. $502,400 of this total went to four outside lobbying firms: Accord Group, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc, Angus & Nickerson, and JBC International.

Personnel & board

• Alan Lafley - Chairman
• Robert McDonald - President, CEO & Director
• Werner Geissler - Vice Chairman, Global Operations

Key executives & pay

				Options exercised
Alan Lafley - Chairman & CEO		$7,800,000		$3,120,000
Clayton C. Daley, Jr. - CFO		$2,540,000		$208,000
Robert A. McDonald - COO		N/A		N/A
Susan E. Arnold - President, Global Business Units		$2,550,000		$136,000

Selected board members

• Charles R. Lee - Retired Chairman & Co-CEO, Verizon, Director, Marathon Oil Corporation
• Lynn M. Martin - Director, AT&T
• W. James McNerney, Jr. - Chairman & CEO, Boeing
• John F. Smith, Jr. - Retired Chairman & CEO, General Motors Corporation, retired Chairman, Delta Air Lines
• Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico

Other Staff

• Deborah Platt Majoras - VP & General Counsel
• Durk I. Jager - former president & CEO

Contact

1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
USA
Phone: (513) 983-1100

Web address: http://www.pg.com

Articles & sources

SourceWatch articles

• American Kennel Club
• Animal testing
• Fox News
• Humane Movement
• National Animal Interest Alliance
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
• Pharmaceutical industry
• Sinclair Research Center
• Word of Mouth Marketing Association
• James M. Kilts - former vice chair

External articles

• Ray Moynihan, "Drug maker urges group to lobby FDA on testosterone for women, British Medical Journal, Volume 329, November 27, 2004, page 1255.
• Jeff Gelles, "New buzz tactic: Manipulating teens", "Consumer Watch", Philadelphia Inquirer, October 31, 2005.
• Jo Revill, "How the drugs giant and a lone academic went to war", The Observer, December 4, 2005. Power games at the heart of P&G's relationship with academics, alleges the scientist investigating its billion-dollar osteoporosis treatment.
• "I Sold It Through The Grapevine : Not even small talk is sacred anymore. P&G has enlisted a stealth army of 600,000 moms who chat up its products," BusinessWeek, May 29, 2006.
• Michael Bush, "P&G launches Pantene CSR campaign," PR Week (sub req'd), July 13, 2006.
• Procter & Gamble Deepens Corporate Commitment to Sustainability: Expanded Product, Operations and Social Responsibility Targets to be met by 2012," CSR Newswire, March 26, 2009.

External resources

• Q&A: EU Testing of Chemicals, Humane Society International, March 2009
• Q&A: EU Testing of Pharmaceuticals, HSI, March 2009
• Q&A: EU Testing of Cosmetics, HSI, March 2009

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