Procter and Gamble

Kelby Richard

Professor Armendarez

English 212

11 October 2023

Legend Wiki Entry

           Procter and Gamble is an American consumer company that was founded in the early years of American civilization, only 61 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, in the year 1837. The two men that founded this corporation go by the names of William Procter and James Gamble. The company claimed its origin when the two European emigrants married sisters Olivia and Elizabeth Norris, with William being a candlemaker and James a soap maker, the two were convinced to start a business together and over the span of 20 years, the company grossed $1 million in sales. Though the ticket to the company’s greatest success was during the time of the Civil War. After winning a contract to supply the Union with soap and candles, Procter and Gamble became a household name to men and women all over the country.

The 1980s is when our legend gains all of its traction, amidst the notoriously recognized Satanic Panic that enveloped millions of American homes. The Satanic Panic was a moral epidemic birthed in the United States during the 1980s. This consisted of, but was not limited to, physical and sexual abuse claims targeting groups of people, allegations made by the media and press of large corporations contributing to satanic churches, and even as far as painting negative images of celebrities which involved engaging in satanic worship or cultic activities. Procter and Gamble was a notable victim of these allegations made by the public and media.

The first recorded allegation made against Procter and Gamble was an article titled “Rumor Giving Company a Devil of a Time”, written and published in *The Minneapolis Tribune* in the March edition of the year 1980. This article birthed the beginning of the rumors that enveloped the corporation as a whole, resulting eventually in a logo change. The next contagious spread of this rumor took place in 1982, when the President of Procter and Gamble, at the time, went on the airing of Phil Donahue’s talk show and admitted the allegations were true, directly tying the corporation to the Church of Satan. The President alleged that the company logo was a direct reference to Satan using imagery to depict its ties. However, some people refer to this event taking place in 1985, while others claim the date was 1989. The truth of the matter is that there is no record of this event ever taking place. Unfortunately for Procter and Gamble, this didn’t halt the allegations made by the media and public eye.

Another very popular instance of a similar situation involves the energy drink company Monster Energy. The main driving factor of the allegations surrounding this corporation was a short video that hit the internet and went viral. The video displays a woman lecturing to a group of bystanders that the logo and insignia of the can all directly tie the corporation to the Satanic Church. She claims that the Monster logo is three instances of the Hebrew letter Vav, which is the numerical representation of six in the Hebrew language. This would mean that the logo is a representation of the ‘666’ that is commonly referred to as the number of Satan. The second claim this woman makes is that the ‘O’ on the can is a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and that when the can is being held upside down, during the act of drinking, the represented crucifixion is then upside down. “Bottoms up and the Devil laughs” (Corey, 1:59).

Unfortunately, the Satanic Panic has had many long-lasting effects on a number of companies and corporations. I think that the main root of this is a common fear of the unknown from all walks of life. When people lean heavily into any one faith, religion, or belief, it tends to be the proprietary reasoning for their disbelief in anything they cannot understand. The downfall to this approach is my assumption that the things that cannot be explained must be the work of evil.

Works Cited

Belkin, Lisa. “Procter & Gamble Fights Satan Story.” *The New York Times*, The New York Times, 18 Apr. 1985, www.nytimes.com/1985/04/18/garden/procter-gamble-fights-satan-story.html.

Skvarla, Robert. “When 1980s Satanic Panic Targeted Procter & Gamble.” *Atlas Obscura*, Atlas Obscura, 8 Nov. 2019, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/procter-gamble-satan-conspiracy-theory.

“Monster Energy Drinks Promote Satan, Says Woman in Viral Video.” *ABC7 Los Angeles*, 12 Nov. 2014, abc7.com/monster-energy-satan-drink-devil/392023/.

“MONSTER Energy Drinks Are the Work of SATAN!!!” *YouTube*, YouTube, 9 Nov. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bntfUA6TmLs&ab\_channel=Corey. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.