Marketing to Controversial Demographics

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Founded in 1837 P&G has built its business on its brands and family oriented reputation.
Focusing on high quality consumer products P&G has produced multiple million dollar brands including Tide and
Pantene.
The company is also well known as a division leader in many product categories.
P&G lists Leadership, Integrity, Trust, Ownership and
Passion for Winning as its core values.
The P&G community consists of nearly 98,000 people working in almost 80 countries worldwide.

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On its website P&G states:
“We Show Respect for All Individuals
*We believe that all individuals can and want to contribute to their fullest potential.
*We value differences.
*We inspire and enable people to achieve high expectations, standards, and challenging goals.
*We are honest with people about their performance.”

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Wildmon, a former Methodist pastor, in 1977.
AFA claims 2,317,120 members.
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hot button issues and links to legislative websites

AFA’s website states:
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“We believe in holding accountable the companies which
 sponsor programs attacking traditional family values. We also believe in commending those companies which act responsibly regarding programs they support.”
“Disney/ABC cancels the pro-homosexual show Ellen,
 for "lack of ratings." AFA led the campaign to encourage responsible advertisers to drop from the show.”
“Does AFA Hate Homosexuals?
Absolutely Not! The same Holy Bible that calls us to reject sin, calls us to love our neighbor. It is that love that motivates us to expose the misrepresentation of the radical homosexual agenda and stop its spread though our culture.”

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P&G supported the repeal of Article 12, which prevents gays and lesbians from seeking protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
P&G sent a statement to employees in
Cincinnati explaining its reasoning for supporting the repeal.

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It ran in 2000 in newspaper.
a Toronto gay
It never ran in any other countries including the United States.
It was targeted by AFA as being an intentional advocate for homosexuality in
September 2004.

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After September 2004, AFA announced a campaign to boycott the three major P&G products: Tide, Crest, and Pampers.
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Petitions for the boycott were sent to several Christian organizations and is included on their website’s home page.

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P&G spokesman Doug Shelton stated that the company would not change its position on the repeal of Article 12, (Crary, 2004).
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However, Shelton said that P&G believes the ad in Xtra was a mistake and “even if the ad had featured heterosexuals, it never should have run
– it was in violation of our advertising guidelines,” (Crary, 2004).

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Both AFA and P&G target family-oriented consumers with traditional values.
A part of P&G’s target market is middle to upper class consumers who desire quality products. The gay and lesbian market falls into this target audience.
So how does P&G balance its commitment to diversity and inclusion with the interests of its more conservative consumers?