Procter & Gamble Co
Pgcom_logo_top.gif
P&G logo
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| Type
| Public
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| Slogan
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| Founded
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| Location
| Cincinnati, Ohio
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| Key people
| Alan Lafley, CEO & Director
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| Employees
| 110,000
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| Products
| Consumer Goods and Products
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| Web site
| www.pg.com
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Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) (NYSE: PG (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=PG)) is a global $50 billion (sales per year) consumer goods corporation based in Cincinnati, Ohio that manufactures a wide range of consumer products. The company has approximately 106,000 employees.
History
Procter & Gamble was started in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble as a family-owned company in Cincinnati that manufactured soap and candles.
Operations
Effective July 1, 2004, the company's operations are:
- Health, baby, and family care
- Household care
- Beauty care
- Global operations
Brands
- see also List of assets owned by Procter & Gamble
Thirteen of P&G's brands have more than a billion dollars in sales: Pampers, Tide, Ariel, Always, Pantene, Charmin, Bounty, Iams, Crest, Folgers, Pringles, Head & Shoulders, Febreze and Downy. Other well known P&G brands include Oil of Olay, Max Factor, Bold, Daz, Flash, Hugo Boss, Fairy, Wella and Lacoste. In January 2005 P&G proposed a merger with Gillette to form the largest consumer goods company, displacing the Anglo-Dutch Unilever into second place. This would add brands such as Gillette razors, Duracell and Braun Oral-B to their stable.
Ethics
To be included.
Crisco
When William Procter and James Gamble started the company Procter & Gamble, they hired chemist E.C. Kayser and developed the process to hydrogenate cottonseed oil. The initial purpose was to make a cheaper substance to make candles than the expensive animal fats in use at the time. Electricity began to diminish the candle market, and since the product looked like lard, they began selling it as a food. This product became known as Crisco. Further success came from the marketing technique of giving away free cookbooks with every recipe calling for Crisco.
Financials
Financial information for the prior organization of the company follows:
| | Net sales (US$M) | Net income (US$M) |
|---|
| | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 |
|---|
| Baby, Feminine and Family Care | 11,877 | 11,991 | 1,170 | 1,052
| | Beauty Care | 8,079 | 7,257 | 1,177 | 967 |
| Fabric and Home Care | 11,618 | 11,660 | 1,831 | 1,643 |
| Health Care | 4,979 | 4,353 | 521 | 390 |
| Food & Beverage | 3,801 | 4,139 | 384 | 332 |
| Corporate | (116) | (156) | (1,462) | (570) |
| Total (US$M) | 40,238 | 39,244 | 4,352 | 2,922 |
Television
 The P&G production ident was first seen in 1985. P&G produced and sponsored the first radio soap operas in the 1930s. 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.
List of past serials produced by P&G:
P&G was also the first company to produce and sponsor a prime-time show, Shirley starring Shirley Jones, in 1979; it lasted 13 episodes.
Diversity
Procter & Gamble was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.
Logo controversy
 Former P&G logo The company received unwanted media publicity in the 1980s when an unfounded rumor spread that their previous corporate logo was a satanic symbol. The accusation is apparently 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 13 stars, some have claimed that the logo is a parody of the heavenly symbol alluded to in the aforementioned Biblical verse, and hence the logo is satanic. But the charge has 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.
External links
Criticism
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