BREAKING NEWS: P&G win gold on the mumsnet family awards (which they sponsor)

[iloveberries]

Anyone else a bit cynical about this and think that P&G have basically 'bought' the award. My best friend and husband used to work there (how i met him) and I can guarantee they are anything BUT family friendly to work for!!!

So you say...

Just like you say you are a teacher. Not running away, in a P & G fashion are you?

Better go an get plugged back into the Corporate Brainwashing Machine.

This is going to be a great dilemma for many on this thread.

How to deal with an anti-P&G, yet self-styled blue-chipper. Do they support you, or do they denounce you too. It is a toughie.

I mean, you have given no clue to your family friendliness. Is it good, not so good, or just done for 'marketing' reasons?

Does your company sponsor the Olympics and have free tickets to give away? If so, what is the perception of that.

I would hate to have to draw a conclusion on this one.

I value integrity. I've not had a reason to question Deux's integrity yet. I don't know what company she used to work for so I can't form a judgement on that, but I'd say they'd both have to go a long way to be as down in my estimation as P & G.

Why, exactly, is P&G so low in your estimations?

Mmm, methinks that MTG is on the back foot now.

I'm not sure what you mean about "denounce/support" as I no longer work there. Just sharing my experiences. But you're a teacher so you won't have any blue chip experience.

I am no longer a blue-chipper (arf). The mega-corp I worked for has had it's fair share of controversy, albeit in a different division. There will be plenty who have derogatory views about it and some of it justified.

If someone would argue with me citing concrete evidence, I would have a chance at being on the back foot. Alas, there is no such thing, All we get is that P&G is a baddie (because they are nice to their employees and consumers), Mumsnet is a baddie (because they have robust research methods) and I am a baddie (just because).

I want to be on the back foot - give me something to work with, please!

I don't like P & G because their products have given me and my children rashes, and I think their marketing strategies are a bit suspect. I don't like that they paid to win a gold family friendly award from mumsnet and that the policy and the practice of their family friendliness seem to bear little resemblance to each other.

In the interests of fair play, deux who did you work with so I can slag them off too?

Well, having a sequence of rashes is a reasonable reason not to like a company's products. A mass market company is catering for mass market. They can only do so much with super sensitive consumers, as do other large companies.

What is suspect about P&G's marketing practices? Their marketing mix is fairly straight up, with an emphasis on 'product' (of the classic 4-Ps). I would be interested in understanding your point of view.

I think the Mumsnet family awards have been explained ad nauseam. P&G (and Pearson) did not pay for a Gold award (they could have won any colour, or none at all). They paid to enter the initiative. Given that Mumsnet could not afford to run this initiative for free (they needed proper market researchers), there is only one source of funding. If this source of funding is unacceptable, then we don't get these awards and an insight into the companies that Mumsnetters and other mums and dads work for. I don't really understand the issue, though. P&G and Pearson can't just make up their family-friendliness - it is something that is built up over years. It is not just a whim on hearing that Mumsnet was doing a project. P&G, Pearson and the other winners are proud of their corporate cultures and were not afraid of putting themselves forward for this award. Clearly failing companies were not interested. Now, I work very closely with Pearson (I've been living and breathing them for most of this week), and I might sometimes raise an eyebrow about how they run their business and deal with their clients (me), but this should not taint (or enhance) how I view their relationship with their own employees.

We are not super sensitive consumers. Pampers are the only Nappies that do this to my children, and I use other brands such as elvive no probs.
And don't get me started on Pampers cutting the absorbant part of the nappy so its only half the nappy. So many of my friends have stopped using them because of that.

And my other points?

I'm pretty sure deux is not jealous of you mindthegapp - you sound like a total bit of a loser!

The reason the olympics thing got to me is because P&G make it sound like they're all wonderful and giving away their ticket allocation but it's actually an on-pack-promotion.... in fact, i am surprised they can use the language 'giving away' as it seems you have to buy a product to win something.... if i worked for any of the other competitors i would have my legal team on that ad pretty sharp....

and deux - ditto the P&G people comments, they're a bit of a joke aren't they!!