Soap Opera. The Inside Story of Proctor & Gamble

by Alecia Swasy

An experienced reporter investigates Procter & Gamble, the United States' thirteenth largest company, revealing painful facts about a control-obsessed corporation not afraid to bend the rules for its own benefit. 75,000 first printing. Major ad/promo. Tour.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, History

378 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Emily Monroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not an original thought, but I will reiterate it: This book lacks a narrative to hold it together. Each chapter is just a barrage of facts and interview quotes, and it wore on me as a reader the further I progressed. I learned a lot about P&G in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and the reporting is stellar. It just isn’t great in book format. Comparing this to another WSJ reporter’s book (Bad Blood), this one is difficult to get through.

[Kitap · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Epilogue, pp. 307-310

"P&G has manipulated and abused its own employees, consumers, and competitors and gotten away with it for years....P&G's actions continue to receive little scrutiny as long as the financial returns are solid....Those who embrace P&G because of its financial strength need to rethink the steep price of that success....P&G and other companies should be held accountable for more than their quarterly dividends-and-profit report. For starters independent science--free from P&G's grants--should substantiate the company's claims on products...Likewise, state and local governments need to reconsider how much of P&G's power and influence a free society should tolerate....Little changes unless people question corporate giants like P&G."

[MissJessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had the misfortune to work at P&G "back in the day" for a little over 2 years before I made my escape.

I find this book to be, if anything, milder in tone than working there actually was. I, a female, was told to cut my long hair because my temporary boss "couldn't see my face" from the side when I was working. Fool that I was, I did.

After marriage, I was pressured relentlessly to have children. Fool that I wasn't, I didn't.

Paranoia in security, sheer mind numbing BOREDOM with the job, miserably inhibition of any creative ideas whatsoever that were slightly outside the established norm (good or not).

If I had stayed, I'd be much richer what with all the stock, etc.

But I'd have been immeasurably poorer in the soul, mind and spirit. If I had survived at all.

[Mainon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe it was just my first time reading a sort of "biography of a corporation," but I was fascinated by this book. Procter & Gamble is a huge company with a ton of products, and a unique sort of corporate culture, and Swasy does an excellent job of telling the story of P&G in an entertaining, though often critical, way. There was a lot of history here -- I'm not old enough to have known about the Rely tampon / toxic-shock debacle, for instance -- so I learned things I hadn't known before. There's also a fair amount of info on modern product design and advertising -- again, I found it fascinating, or maybe it was Swasy that made it all seem so compelling.

[Veronique Perrot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good description of how P&G is run like a fascist country. There is a lot of scary information in this book, from corporate bullying, mistreatment of employees to harassment of environmentalists and animal rights activits to bullying by using the police and a general sense that P&G feels they own the world. Like other major corporations, their products are also dangerous (see the Rely tampons story) and shouldn't be in any homes.

[Roland · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a fun read - but definitely interesting

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty bad story about P&G, author had nothing good to say about the company. Hard to believe that the company is all bad as the author describes.