ABSTRACT
Right from the outset, Procter & Gamble had decided to react discreetly, without using the mass media. There was no need to alarm shareholders or provide an occasion to distributors to become more demanding about the commercial conditions proposed by the company. Faced with a persistently increasing number of calls, the company resolved to call upon the media. On June 24, 1982, Procter & Gamble made a press release in which the primary leaders of fundamentalist movements argued against any possible connection between the company and Satan. The most powerful reporters from newspapers and magazines in the United States were invited. The press coverage was impressive. Alongside its massive press campaign, Procter & Gamble decided for the first time to sue six people who had been distributing leaflets on the Satanic nature of the company and inciting people to boycott its products.
