Procter & Gamble: Products and Projects

Products

P&G claims to ‘be responsible for more than 250 brands you know and trust’.[16]

Baby Care (nappies, wipes, disposable bibs) Brands include: Pampers, Bibsters, Luvs

Beauty Care (cosmetics, fragrances, colognes, hair care, deodorants /antiperspirants, personal cleaning, skin care) Brands include: Old Spice, Cover Girl, Max Factor, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Oil of Olay, Vidal Sassoon, Wash & Go, Circ, Secret, Zest, Fairy Toilet Soap, Hugo Boss, Laura Biagiotti

Fabric and Home Care (bleach & pre-wash additives, care for special fabrics, dish care, fabric conditioner, hard surfaces cleaners, household cleaners, laundry, produce rinses) Brands include: Febreze, Cascade, Comet, Mr.Clean, Swiffer, Dreft, Tide, Fairy, Lenor, Bounce

Feminine Care (sanitary pads and tampons) Brands include: Always, Tampax

Food and Beverage (snacks, shortening and oil, beverages, peanut butter) Brands include: Sunny Delight, Jif (has just been sold to Smucker), Pringles

Health Care (gastrointestinal, oral care, respiratory care, prescription drugs) Brands include: Crest, Iams, Dantrium, Vicks

Tissues&Towel (facial & toilet tissues, paper towels) Brands include: Bounty, Charmin, Puffs

‘Crimes against Food: Sunny Delight’ ‘Procter & Gamble's orange drink, Sunny Delight, is promoted as "the great stuff kids go for". The drink vitamin-enriched juice is placed in supermarket chiller cabinets to emphasise the product's freshness. But the increasingly sophisticated purchasers for the product – informed parents - were sceptical of Sunny Delight's health claims, which were exposed as overstated.’[17] Kathryn Flett claims there is only 5% juice in each bottle, and concludes ‘that that leaves 95 per cent Other Weird Shit pretty much unaccounted for.’[18]

The Florida Department of Citrus is threatening to sue P&G over alleged deceptive advertising practices for Sunny Delight. The sugary orange drink marketed as a juice beverage is actually "junk juice" whose marketing deceives children and parents, Florida's citrus industry and a consumer interest group says.

For more ‘crimes against food’ see the corporate crime section below.

Chemical Products ‘Whatever your manufacturing focus - cosmetics, shampoos, food, pharmaceuticals, detergents, lubricants, coatings, rubber or plastics products - we (P&G) have the capability to deliver the high-quality oleochemicals you need just the way you need them, when and where you need them. For more than 50 years, P&G has supplied high-quality oleochemicals to the chemical processing industry.’ [19]

P&G chemicals include Fatty Alcohol, Methyl Ester, Light Cut Fatty Acid, Glycerine, Tertiary Amines and Speciality Chemicals. See: www.pg.com/docChemicals/mainmenu.htm

Pharmaceutical products P&G also has a relatively young, but expanding pharmaceuticals division which began in the US in the late 1970s. See: http://www.pgpharma.com

Soap Operas P&G has invented the concept of ‘soap operas’ as a way of reaching consumers with their products. See the Corporate Crime section.

Research and Development P&G about its achievements in this field:

‘Last year, P&G invested over $1.7 billion [£1,177 billion] in research and development at 19 technical centres and nearly 100 universities around the world.’[20]

‘P&G credits its success in product innovation to deeply understanding consumer needs and desires and bringing these to reality through leading edge science and technology.’[21]

Above all, P&G spends billions of dollars a year using focus groups and testing markets. ‘Before rolling out a new product, the company typically spends several months and millions of dollars to conduct field tests in a handful of midsize, middle-American cities.

Basic model: Research secretly, and carry a strong brand.’[22]

P&G owns dozens of patents (some 27,000 at last count, July 2001) [23], and dozens of domain names for use on the Internet [24]. P&G has just started licensing out its intellectual property [Opening the patent portfolio fits in P&G’s strategy to alter the trajectory of the company's secretive culture, and accelerate innovation]. Now every patent in the P&G portfolio is available for license to any outsider, as long as it has existed for at least five years or has been in use in a P&G product for at least three years [less than 10% of the 27,000 patents are currently being used in P&G products], whichever comes first. [25]

References

[16] www.pg.com/products/pg_products.jhtml?toolbar=/common/lbarmain.jhtml (source: P&G, date viewed: 22/10/01) [17] www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4226753,00.html (source: The Guardian, date viewed: 10/10/01) [18] www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4235764,00.html(source: The Guardian, date viewed: 10/10/01) [19] www.pg.com/docChemicals/ovrvew-e.htm (source: P&G Chemicals, date viewed: 18/10/01) [20] www.pg.com/about_pg/science_tech/sectionmain.jhtml (source: P&G. date viewed: 05/10/01) [21] Ibidem [22] www.fastcompany.com/online/49/bestpractice.html (source: Fast Company, the Magazine, August 2001 issue, date viewed: 22/10/01) [23] www.fastcomapny.com/lead/lead_feature/pg1.html (source: Fast Company, date viewed: 19/10/01) [24] www.mcspotlight.org/beyond/companies/proctor.html (source: McSpotlight, date viewed: 22/10/01) [25] www.fastcomapny.com/lead/lead_feature/pg1.html (source: Fast Company, date viewed: 19/10/01)