Procter & Gamble returns its commercials to ‘Survivor’ citing change in format

By Cliff Peale
Cincinnati Enquirer
(October 11, 2006) Tide detergent had been promoted on the show. P&G had joined other big advertisers, including Coca-Cola Co. and General Motors Corp., in pulling their ads, though GM officials said they had informed CBS of their withdrawal months before the show's new "segregated" format had been announced. The show draws more than 17 million viewers a week.

"Because the format changed, we felt the program once again fell back into our content guidelines," P&G spokeswoman Robyn Schroeder said Friday.

Cincinnati-based P&G wouldn't detail its total spending on "Survivor," and Schroeder said it would continue to monitor the show.

Civic groups and community leaders had criticized this year's format, saying it promoted divisiveness. For the first three episodes, the contestants competing for the $1 million prize while stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific were divided into four teams - blacks, Asians, Hispanics and whites.

P&G, one of the world's biggest advertisers, has been on the show for the previous 12 contests. It has pitched brands including Pringles, Olay and Folgers. Ads last year featured Febreze.

The company has tried to stay away from controversial programming, such as a decision in 2000 to pull its advertising from the television show of controversial conservative commentator Laura Schlessinger.

Other companies that had decided not to advertise with "Survivor" include Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola, according to trade journal Advertising Age.


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