Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co.

P&G logo
Company type	Public (NYSE: PG)
Industry	Consumer goods
Founded	1837
Headquarters	One Procter & Gamble Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 45202
Products	Consumer goods
Revenue	US$68.222 billion (2006)
Operating income	17,813,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
Net income	US$8.684 billion (2006)
Total assets	127,136,000,000 United States dollar (2016)
Number of employees	138,000
Website	www.pg.com

Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G, NYSE: PG) is an American global corporation based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that manufactures a wide range of consumer goods.

History

William Procter, a candlemaker, and James Gamble, a soapmaker, formed the company known as Procter & Gamble in 1837. The two men, immigrants from England and Ireland respectively, who had settled earlier in Cincinnati might never have met had they not married sisters, Olivia and Elizabeth Norris.

Since both their industries used similar resources, the Panic of 1837 caused intense competition between the two and as a result it led to discord with the family. Alexander Norris, their father-in law decided to call a meeting where he convinced his new sons-in-law to become business partners. On October 31, 1837, as a result of the suggestion, a new enterprise was born: Procter & Gamble.

The company prospered during the nineteenth century. In 1859, sales reached one million dollars. By this point, approximately eighty employees worked for Procter & Gamble. During the American Civil War, the company won contracts to supply the Union Army with soap and candles. In addition to the increased profits experienced during the war, the military contracts introduced soldiers from all over the country to Procter & Gamble's products. Once the war was over and the men returned home, they continued to purchase the company's products.

In the 1880s, Procter & Gamble began to market a new product, an inexpensive soap that floats in water. The company called the soap Ivory. In the decades that followed, Procter & Gamble continued to grow and change. The company became known for its progressive work environment in the late nineteenth century. William Cooper Procter, William Procter's grandson, established a profit-sharing program for the company's workforce in 1887. He hoped that by giving the workers a stake in the company, they would be less inclined to go on strike.

Over time, the company began to focus most of its attention on soap, producing more than thirty different types by the 1890s. As electricity became more and more common, there was less need for the candles that Procter & Gamble had made since its inception. Ultimately, the company chose to stop manufacturing candles in 1920.

In the early twentieth century, Procter & Gamble continued to grow. The company began to build factories in other locations in the United States, because the demand for products had outgrown the capacity of the Cincinnati facilities. The company's leaders began to diversify its products as well and, in 1911, began producing Crisco, a shortening made of vegetable oils rather than animal fats. In the early 1900s, Procter & Gamble also became known for its research laboratories, where scientists worked to create new products. Company leadership also pioneered in the area of market research, investigating consumer needs and product appeal. As radio became more popular in the 1920s and 1930s, the company sponsored a number of radio programs. As a result, these shows often became commonly known as "soap operas."

Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Throughout the twentieth century, Procter & Gamble continued to prosper. The company moved into other countries, both in terms of manufacturing and product sales, becoming an international corporation with its 1930 acquisition of the Newcastle upon Tyne-based Thomas Hedley Co. Procter & Gamble maintained a strong link to the North East of England after this acquisition. In addition, numerous new products and brand names were introduced over time, and Procter & Gamble began branching out into new areas. The company introduced Tide laundry detergent in 1946 and "Prell" shampoo in 1950. In 1955, Procter & Gamble began selling the first toothpaste to contain fluoride, known as "Crest". Branching out once again in 1957, the company purchased Charmin Paper Mills and began manufacturing toilet paper and other paper products. Once again focusing on laundry, Procter & Gamble began making "Downy" fabric softener in 1960 and "Bounce" fabric softener sheets in 1972. One of the most revolutionary products to come out on the market was the company's "Pampers", first test-marketed in 1961. Prior to this point disposable diapers were not popular, although Johnson & Johnson had developed a product called "Chux". Babies always wore cloth diapers, which were leaky and labor intensive to wash. Pampers simplified the diapering process.

Over the second half of the twentieth century, Procter & Gamble acquired a number of other companies that diversified its product line and increased profits significantly. These acquisitions included Folgers Coffee, Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Richardson-Vicks, Noxell, Shulton's Old Spice, Max Factor, and the Iams Company, among others. In 1994, the company made headlines for big losses resulting from leveraged positions in interest rate derivatives, and subsequently sued Bankers Trust for fraud; this placed their management in the unusual position of testifying in court that they had entered into transactions they were not capable of understanding. In 1996, Procter & Gamble again made headlines when the Food and Drug Administration approved a new product developed by the company, Olestra. Also known by its brand name Olean, Olestra is a substitute for fat in cooking potato chips and other snacks. Procter & Gamble has expanded dramatically throughout its history, but its headquarters still remains in Cincinnati. {Source, Ohio History Central.}

In January 2005 P&G announced an acquisition of Gillette, forming the largest consumer goods company and placing the Anglo-Dutch Unilever into second place. This added brands such as Gillette razors, Duracell, Braun, and Oral-B to their stable. The acquisition was approved by the European Union and the Federal Trade Commission, with conditions to a spinoff of certain overlapping brands. P&G has agreed to sell its SpinBrush battery-operated electric toothbrush business to Church & Dwight. It also plans to divest Gillette's oral-care product line, Rembrandt. The deodorant brands Right Guard, Soft & Dri, and Dry Idea were sold to Dial Corporation. The companies officially merged October 1, 2005.

P&G's dominance in many categories of consumer products makes its brand management decisions worthy of study. For example, P&G's corporate strategists must account for the likelihood of one of their products cannibalizing the sales of another.

Controversies

Downsizing

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore made a visit to Procter & Gamble in his documentary The Big One about their downsizing of the workforce.

Logo controversy

File:P&glogo.jpg

Former P&G logo

The company received unwanted media publicity in the 1980s when an urban legend spread that their previous corporate logo was a satanic symbol. The accusation is based on a particular passage in the Bible, specifically Revelation 12:1, which states: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Since P&G's logo consists of a man's face on a moon surrounded by thirteen stars, some have claimed that the logo is a mockery of the heavenly symbol alluded to in the aforementioned verse, and hence the logo is Satanic. Where the beard meets the surrounding circle, a mirror image of 666 can be seen when viewed from inside the logo, and this has been interpreted as the reflected number of the beast, again linked to Satanism. Also, there are two horns like a lamb that are said to represent the false prophet. These interpretations have been denied by company officials, and no evidence linking the company to the Church of Satan or any other occult organization has ever been presented. The company has sued and attempted to sue a number of companies and individuals who have spread rumors of this type, in some instances because they sell competitive products and have spread such rumors for the purpose of tarnishing P&G's image to increase sales of their own brands.

An example of one such rumor was the fabricated account that the president of P&G had appeared on a Saturday edition of the Phil Donahue show, and declared that he was a Satanist and that the company's logo was Satanic. This rumor circulated despite the facts that the company's president has never made such a statement in public; had never appeared on Phil Donahue's show; and that Donahue's show does not run on Saturdays.

However, the continuous media coverage prompted P&G to adopt an entirely new logo consisting of just the letters P&G. In television commercials in Hong Kong and China, the former P&G logo still appears at the end of each commercial. It also still appears on the Company's packaging that it sends to retailers.

The original Logo still appears on Procter and Gamble stock certificates as of this date.

A Dilbert strip pokes fun at this controversy. In the strip, Dilbert asks "Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light" what he does for money. Phil responds, "Corporate sponsorship. Procter and Gamble pays me to stay away from them."

Toxic shock syndrome and tampons

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a disease caused by strains of the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. Most people have these bacteria living in their bodies as harmless commensals in places such as the nose, skin, and vagina. The disease can strike anyone, not only women, but the disease is often associated with tampons.

In 1980, 814 menstrual-related TSS cases were reported; 38 deaths resulted from the disease. The majority of women in these cases were documented as using super-absorbent synthetic tampons, particularly the Rely tampon created by Procter and Gamble. The Rely tampon was so super-absorbent that one by itself could in fact hold one woman’s entire menstrual period. Unlike other tampons made of cotton and rayon, Rely used carboxymethylcellulose and compressed beads of polyester for absorption. The materials used in Rely were causing an increase in the thickness of fluid inside the vagina, resulting in more toxins being released.

The slogan Procter and Gamble used for the product is ironic in retrospect, "Rely. It even absorbs the worry."

In the summer of 1980 the Centers for Disease Control released a report explaining how these bacterial mechanisms were leading to TSS. They also stated that the Rely tampon was associated with TSS more than any other brand of tampon. In September 1980, Procter and Gamble voluntarily recalled its Rely brand of tampons from the market and agreed to provide for a program to notify consumers. Since the 1980s, reported cases of TSS have dramatically decreased.

Research

In December 2005 the Pharmaceutical division of P&G was involved in a dispute over research involving its osteoporosis drug Actonel. The case was discussed in the media Doctors for Research Integrity, and more recently on a blog Scientific Misconduct Blog

Operations

Effective April, 2006, the company's operations are categorized into 3 "Business Units" with each Business Unit divided into "Business Segments," according to the company's Investor Relations Fact Sheet

• P&G Beauty & Health
  • Beauty Care segment
  • Health Care segment
• P&G Household Care
  • Pet health, snacks and coffee segment
  • Baby Care and Family Care segment
  • Fabric Care and Home Care segment
• Gillette
  • Duracell and Braun segment
  • Blades and razors segment

Gillette is supposed to be integrated fully into P&G by January 2007 according to [1].

Management & Staff

Current members of the board of directors of Procter & Gamble are: Norman Augustine, Bruce Byrnes, Scott D. Cook, Joseph Gorman, A.G. Lafley, Charles R. Lee, Lynn M. Martin, W. James McNerney, Jr., Johnathan Rodgers, John F. Smith, Jr., Ralph Snyderman, Margaret Whitman, and Ernesto Zedillo.

In 2007, the P&G's Canadian division was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine, the only consumer products company to receive this honor.

Product brands

23 of P&G's brands have more than a billion dollars in annual sales.

See a full List of Procter & Gamble brands

Current brand details

• Always is a brand of feminine hygiene products, including maxi pads, pantiliners, and feminine wipes, produced by Procter & Gamble.--See also Brand homepage; related trademarks: Ultra Thins; Flexi-Wing; Maxis; Alldays; CleanWeave.
• Ariel is a brand of washing powder/liquid, available in numerous forms and scents.
• Bounce is a fabric-softener sheet, produced in many scents, for dryers .
• Bounty is a brand of paper towel sold in the United States, Canada and British Isles and manufactured by Procter & Gamble.
• Braun is a small-appliances manufacturer specializing in electric razors, coffeemakers, toasters, and blenders.
• Camay a beauty soap made for women.
• Cascade is the top selling brand of dishwasher detergent. Its advertising frequently claims that it "leaves dishes and glasses virtually spotless."
• Charmin a popular brand of bathroom tissue and moist towelettes.
• Cheer is a popular laundry detergent available in powder and liquid which is known to prevent clothes from fading. Also used to be known as Blue Cheer and All Temperature Cheer.
• CoverGirl is the largest color cosmetics brand in the US, with distribution in Canada Australia and Switzerland as well.
• Crest is the first fluoride toothpaste in many varieties. -- See also Brand homepage
• Dawn is the best selling dishwashing detergent that cuts grease. It is available in many scents and also a pump foam formula.
• Downy most popular brand of fabric softener with many scents which is available in liquid and dryer sheets.
• Dreft is a popular brand of baby laundry detergent. It was actually the first synthetic detergent used for delicate clothing and dishes when introduced in 1933 from P&G.
• Dryel is a brand of home dry cleaning which contains a cleaning solution for stains then clothes are placed in a special bag with a freshening sheet and thrown in the dryer.
• Duracell is a leading brand of batteries and flashlights
• Era is P&G first liquid laundry detergent.
• Folgers is the top selling brand of coffee.
• Gain is a popular brand of laundry detergent that is fresh smelling which is available in powder and liquid and fabric softeners available in liquid and dryer sheets. (Became the 23rd billion dollar brand for P&G in 2007.)
• Gleem is a brand of whitening toothpaste with a refreshing taste.
• Gillette a global safety razor manufacturer
• Hugo Boss a line of colognes for men and women.
• Ivory is a brand of floating soap. It is also available in a body wash.
• Ivory Liquid is a brand of dishwashing liquid that is mild to hands.
• Ivory Snow is a gentle detergent for delicate clothing which is available in powder and liquid.
• Joy is a brand of dishwashing liquid.
• Lacoste is a popular line of colognes for men and women.
• Luvs is a budget brand of disposable diapers. Once sold as a deluxe diaper.
• Max Factor a large cosmetics brand predominantly in Europe.
• Millstone a popular selection of gourmet coffees.
• Mr. Clean is a household cleaning products including Magic Eraser.
• Old Spice a variety of deodorants, body washes and colognes for men.
• Oral-B includes power toothbrushes and interdental products--See also Brand homepage
• Pantene is a popular brand of hair care products.
• Pampers the most popular brand of disposable diaper marketed by Procter & Gamble worldwide.
• Pepto-Bismol is a famous pink medication for upset stomachs.
• Pringles is a popular brand of potato chips with numerous flavors.
• Puffs a popular brand of soft facial tissues.
• Scope is a brand of mouthwash.
• Secret is a brand of deodorants made for a woman.
• SK-II is a leading prestige and high-end beauty brand by Procter & Gamble.
• Swiffer is a household cleaning product
• Tampax is a brand of tampon produced by Procter & Gamble.--See also Brand homepage
• Tide is the best selling and P&G's first synthetic laundry detergent that is available in powder and liquid and a variety of formulas and scents. -- See also Brand homepage
• Wella is a beauty brand which specializes in Hair Care products for Professionals. Its products' are sold exclusively to salons.--See also Brand homepage
• Zest is the first synthetic detergent deodorant beauty bar for bath which leaves no sticky soap film. Also available in body washes.

Historic product brands

Brands owned by Procter & Gamble in the past, but since divested:

• Biz, sold to Redox Brands in 2000
• Cinch, a line of cleaning products, was sold to Shansby Group, a San Francisco investment firm
• Chloraseptic, throat medicine and lozenges sold to Prestige Brands.
• Clearasil, over-the-counter acne medicine sold to Boots Healthcare.
• Coast, bar-soap brand sold to Dial Corporation in 2000.
• Comet, long-time P&G brand of cleanser owned now by Prestige Brands.
• Crisco (vegetable oil and shortening) sold to J. M. Smucker.
• Jif (peanut butter) --divested by Procter & Gamble in a spinoff to their stockholders, followed by an immediate merger with The J.M. Smucker Company in 2002.
• Duncan Hines packaged cake mixes, sold to Aurora Foods (now Pinnacle Foods) in 1998.
• Hawaiian Punch, now owned by Dr Pepper/7up
• Lava, sold to WD-40 in 1999.
• Oxydol sold to Redox Brands in 2000; was P&G's first popular laundry soap then later became a laundry detergent after Tide was introduced in 1946.
• Pert Plus, sold to Innovative Brands, LLC in July 2006.
• Prell shampoo, sold to Prestige Brands International in 1999.
• Spic and Span, now owned by The Spic and Span Company, a division of Prestige Brands.
• Sunny Delight orange drink, spun off in 2004.
• Sure, anti-perspirant/deodorant line was sold in October 2006 to brand-development firm Innovative Brands.
• Lilt Home Permanents, Including "Push Button" Lilt, The First "Foam-In" Home Permanent In A Can. Sold To Schwartzkopf/DEP
• PERT (Later, PERT Plus) The First "So-Called" Shampoo And Conditioner In One (First Successful Combining Of A Creme Rinse -Like Agent "Sillicone" And Shampoo) Sold in october 2006 to brand-development firm Innovative Brands
• 'Top Job all-purpose cleaner.

Brands owned by Procter & Gamble in the past, but since phased out:

• Both Banner and White Cloud toilet tissues were merged with the company's best known bathroom tissue, Charmin.
• Bold a brand of laundry detergent. The product is still sold in Europe.
• Citrus Hill, orange juice drink last made in 1992.
• Dash a brand of concentrated laundry detergent. The product is still sold in Europe.
• Encaprin, the first competitor to Tylenol in the ibuprofen-capsule pain-reliever market. In 1984, it beat Advil and Nuprin to the stores by a few months. Only two years later, it was forced off the market by a cyanide poisoning hoax.
• High Point was a brand of instant coffee
• Monchelle was a bar of beauty soap
• Puritan oil was a brand of liquid vegetable oil (The first brand to sell canola oil)
• Salvo the first concentrated tablet laundry detergent which was discontinued in the 1970s then later a dish detergent (sold in the US 2004-2005 it's still sold in Latin America)
• Rely, brand of super-absorbent tampons in production from 1976-1980. It was pulled off the market with the TSS crisis.
• Thrill was a dishwashing liquid.
• Wondra was a lotion for dry skin. There were many formulas. ( The First Major Brand To Use "Sillicones")
• Pace & SELF "No-Lotion" Home Permanents,-The Waving Ingredients Were In The Special Waving "Papers", Squares Of Treated Cloth-Like Material Sealed In A Foil Packette.

Procter & Gamble Productions

File:Pgproductions.jpg

The P&G production ident was first seen in 1985.

P&G produced and sponsored the first radio soap operas in the 1930s (Procter and Gamble being known for detergents (soaps) was probably the genesis of the term "soap opera"). When the medium switched to television in the 1950s and 1960s, most of the new serials were sponsored and produced by the company. Two of their serials, As the World Turns and Guiding Light, are still on the air today and are distributed by Procter & Gamble Productions.The Young and the Restless also is sponsored by products from Procter & Gamble, as well as other daytime serials.

List of past serials produced by P&G:

• Another World
• The Brighter Day
• The Edge of Night
• The First Hundred Years
• From These Roots
• Search for Tomorrow
• Somerset
• Texas

Logo used during these debuts:

• Another World - February 14, 1985
• As The World Turns - Fall 1985
• Search for Tomorrow - February 26, 1986
• Guiding Light - Fall 1986

Procter & Gamble also was the first company to produce and sponsor a prime-time show, Shirley, starring Shirley Jones, in 1979; it lasted 13 episodes. They also produced TBS' first original comedy series, Down to Earth, which ran from 1984 to 1987 (110 episodes were produced). They also distributed the syndicated comedy series Throb. Procter & Gamble Productions co-produced Dawson's Creek with Columbia Pictures Television (although P&G was uncredited in the series).

In addition to self-produced items, P&G also supports many Spanish-language novelas through advertising on Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura, Azteca and many more channels. P&G was the one of the first mainstream advertisers on Spanish-language TV during the mid eighties.

See also

In 1908, David B. Gamble turned to brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene of Greene and Greene to design his winter estate in Pasadena, California known now as Gamble House.

Two of the most media shy principal beneficiaries of Procter & Gamble, remain the brothers T.D. Gamble and W. A. Gamble, Jr., whose family trust's holdings are estimated to be between Two to Five Billion Dollars. These assets provide endowments to some of the World's leading colleges and universities; as well as diverse philanthropic endeavors, Worldwide.

External links

• pg.com: Procter & Gamble Web site
• Procter & Gamble Company Profile and News Archive
• "The truth about Iams" (A Proctor and Gamble site)
• Yahoo profile
• 'Fatwa' helps Procter & Gamble in Anti-Counterfeiting Campaign
• Procter & Gamble India Unofficial Blog
• P&G's Environment and Safety page
• Proctor and Gamble Animal Tests Exposed
• Community Action
• Chief Executive A. G. Lafley

Criticism

• Boycott Procter & Gamble Against the animal testing by Procter & Gamble
• McSpotLight.org: Procter & Gamble in the McSpotlight also critical
• List serve of HOPE (Help Our Polluted Environment) in Taylor County, FL, US
• FSU PowerPoint "What Stinks", that names the P&G/Buckeye mill in Perry Florida in its sequence of pollution disasters caused by pulp mills.
• Scientific Misconduct Procter & Gamble involved in a dispute over scientific procedure and hiding of information in research of the drug Actonel
• "Pampers Baby Fresh 2007" Diaper performance as seen by an independent diaper expert (Richer Investment).

References

• Soap opera: the inside story of Procter & Gamble, by Alecia Swasy. Publisher: New York : Times Books, c1993. ISBN 0-8129-2060-0. LCC: HD9999
• Lawyers and Settlements 2006 October 26