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P&G squeezes Charmin into Super Bowl
Top advertiser buys into big game for first time with spot promoting its toilet paper brand.
December 5, 2003: 7:14 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Procter & Gamble Co., which buys more than 10 percent of all U.S. television advertising for its myriad of consumer products, is making its first commercial buy on the Super Bowl this February, according to a published report, with a spot for its Charmin toilet paper brand.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the spot for Charmin will feature the slogan, "Softer and stronger for your end zone." It said Charmin beat out five other P&G products -- Crest toothpaste, Pringles potato chips, heartburn reliever Prilosec OTC and a new product, Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash, and Swiffer cleaning supplies -- for the right to be the first P&G product advertised on the best-watched U.S. show.

The Feb. 1 game will be aired on CBS.

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The Journal said P&G spends $4.3 billion annually on television advertising. That's out of a total market estimated to be about $30 billion. But the paper said the Cincinnati-based company has never been particularly comfortable with the edgier attention-grabbing spots that dominate the broadcast.

For years the Charmin campaign featured a balding grocer named Mr. Whipple asking women shoppers not to squeeze the Charmin, hardly the type of spot that makes the game.

The spot that will debut at the game will show a quarterback bending over to grab the snap from the center, only to be distracted by a piece of toilet paper, rather than the traditional towel, hanging from the center's waistband, the paper reported.  Top of page




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