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Proctor & Gamble awarded £9.9m in Satanism lawsuit
THE international consumer goods company Procter & Gamble has won 19.25 million dollars (£9.9m) in a civil lawsuit filed against four former distributors accused of spreading false rumours linking the company to Satanism.
The US District Court jury in Salt Lake City, Utah, found in favour of the Cincinnati-based company in a lawsuit filed by P&G in 1995. It was one of several the company brought over rumours alleging a link with the company's logo and Satanism.
Rumours had begun circulating as early as 1981 that the company's logo – a bearded, crescent man-in-moon looking over a field of 13 stars – was a symbol of Satanism.
The company alleged that Amway Corporation distributors revived those rumours in 1995, using a voicemail system to tell thousands of customers that part of Procter & Gamble profits went to Satanic cults.
Amway is involved in direct selling through independent business owners in more than 80 countries and territories around the world.
P&G's claim was based on laws prohibiting unfair competition and false advertising.
"This is about protecting our reputation," P&G's chief legal officer Jim Johnson, said in a statement. "We will take appropriate legal measures when competitors unfairly undermine the reputation of our brands or our company."
The former Amway distributors thought they would be exonerated and were shocked by the verdict, said defendant Randy Haugen.
"It's hard to imagine they'd pursue it this long, especially after all the retractions we put out," said Mr Haugen, a 53-year-old Utah businessman, who maintained P&G was never able to show how it was harmed by the rumours. "We are stunned. All of us."
He said he forwarded another person's account of the Satanic rumour to other Amway salesmen on a common phone-message system, then circulated the retraction. The original message, however, found its way to Procter & Gamble.
Amway has said it acted quickly to quash the rumour and the company was dismissed from the case, leaving the four ex-distributors.
P&G spokesman Terry Loftus said the corporation brought a handful of cases against various individuals – not just Amway distributors – through the 1980s, the last one prior to this case in 1990.
Amway had successfully defended itself in this and other lawsuits and could provide its research materials to the former distributors if they appealed, said Kate Makled, spokeswoman for Alticor, Amway's parent company in Ada, Michigan.
"Despite the public apology, P&G has spent 12 years destroying their lives," Ms Makled said. "P&G is a 68 billion dollars (34bn) company. What they got out of this case was what they could earn in about two-and-a-half hours. We think that's shameful."
P&G is the world's largest consumer products company. Its products include Pampers nappies, Tide detergent, Pringles crisps and Folgers coffee.
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