Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) {{nyse|PG}} is a global $60 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.

Logo controversy

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 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 mockery 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.

Related Topics:
1980s - Urban legend - Satan - Bible - Revelation - Church of Satan

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Phil Donahue - Satanist

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However, the continuous media coverage prompted P&G to adopt an entirely new logo consisting of just the letters P&G.

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• See also: Allegations of Satanism in popular culture