Dear P&G : I hate you.

My burning feelings of passionate hate towards Proctor & Gamble (P&G) began when I was attacked by their add campaign, one quiet Sunday afternoon. The Home Made Simple Squad (http://www.homemadesimplesquad.ca) appears to think that, as women, we should worry all day about our husbands running out of toilet paper to wipe their lazy selves. Clearly, P&G thinks we are still in 1973. I thought I'd do my research and give them a fair chance - HA! I still haven't found a campaign, let alone a product, that inspires me to trust P&G. The fact that they just keep digging deeper and deeper in their own filth by trying to redeem themselves is almost comical. In an era where everyone seems to be making efforts to get Mother Nature on their good side again, P&G are severely lacking any type of effort that's worth mention. It's hard for me to limit myself to elaborating (briefly) on only a couple of the ways of P&G. I can't really seem to find an end to the madness and just when I thought I've seen it all, I realize it's just the beginning...

P&G is notoriously known in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry for their animal testing practices. PeTA has made it quite clear and when they get involved, it's usually a pretty dramatic (and efficient!) picture. The Ethical Consumer Guide to Everyday Shopping (Ethical Consumer Research Association) estimates that about 50 000 animals are used for testing per year. How long has P&G been testing on animals? I found information going back to 1986 and I'm pretty sure I'm just scratching at the surface but I'll leave it at that. Knowing that at least 1100000 animals have suffered under the unforgiving hand of this behemoth monster is enough for me.

In 2007, the evil empire launched a campaign to promote their initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa where one in ten young women often miss school due to their monthly visit from friendly Aunt Flow under the tag line “There are lots of reasons kids miss school, being a girl shouldn't be one of them!” The use of these kinds of products not only makes them reliant on a costly imported product, but also creates even more problems when it comes to disposal. Why not provide them with more sanitary facilities at school? Why not educate them better and raise awareness instead of creating even more problems for their communities? Why not take all that invested time and money and spend it on something that is durable? You can't just put a band-aid on something like this! (Pun intended!)

All this (and more) is what gets me wondering : Is this company making these slight changes to make themselves look better in the eye of the consumer or they are doing it with their heart out on their sleeves, to make a real difference in the world? And my answer is the reason why I hate them so much. There are so many criticism campaigns, boycotts, websites and even books dedicated to clearing up the fog P&G have been quietly operating under, it's unbelievable. I've taken action and now I've been P&G-free for about a year and I'm really happy about it. (I accidentally bought Bounty that one time but I was blinded with Bonus Airmiles and am now aware of the temptation...)

Some brand names you might want to consider finding some replacements for :

• Cosmetics and fragrance : Max Factor, Clarion, Colorfast, Cover Girl,

  Boss, Hugo-Boss, Lacoste, Giorgio.

• Diapers : Luvs, Pampers.

• Sanitary Protection: Always, Tampax.

• Oral care : Crest, Fixodent, Scope, Braun, Oral-B, .

• Household products : Ariel, Tide, Bounce, Downy, Cheer, Gain, Ivory Snow,

  Oxydol, Tide, Dawn, Febreze, Mr. Clean, Swiffer.

• Hair care: Head & Shoulders, Ivory, Pantene, Pert Plus.

  Prell, Vidal Sassoon, Aussie, Herbal Essences, Hydriance.

  Infusium, Clairol, Natural Instinct, Nice n' Easy, Pantene.

• Cold products : Vicks range, Chloraseptic, DayQuil, NyQuil, VapoRub, VapoSteam,Vitamin C Drops.

• Paper products : Cascade, Charmin, Puffs, Bounty.

• Pet products : Eukanuba, Iams.

• General hygene : Zest, Clerasil, Gilette, Ivory, Noxzema, Olay, Old Spice, Secret, Sure.

• Others : Metamucil, Pepto-Bismol, Pringles, Duracell,

No one can say that they don't have at least one of these products in their homes. They are not bad products and I must admit, I had a really hard time finding something to replace Febreze. When I decided to weed out all the P&G products from my home, I did it gradually. I kept looking for alternatives so that when it came time to replenish, I knew which replacements to get. Most of these brands are in such highly competitive markets it makes it a lot easier than it seems to find an equivalent. Scope or Listerine? Pepto-Bismol or Gaviscon? Duracell or Energizer? Ivory or Dove? Really!?

I don't believe that P&G are making the necessary changes and the socially responsible thing. Even if they are trying to redeem themselves with campaigns and statements about different causes, I think that they are just following every other multi-national into the eco-trend. It's impossible with a brand as widely spread and well known as P&G to keep a flawless image and a perfect score but if you are going to try, try with your heart, not your wallets.