Devil laid to rest in P&G verdict

A jury has awarded the Procter & Gamble Co. $19.25 million in a damage lawsuit brought against four ex-Amway distributors who were accused of spreading fabricated rumors that connected P&G to satanism.

The verdict came from a jury in federal court in Salt Lake City on behalf of the company that makes Crest toothpaste, Duracell batteries, Iams pet food, Pampers diapers, Tide detergent and Folgers coffee.

The company's website announcement confirmed that the money wasn't the issue for the $60 billion conglomerate in its lawsuit that originally targeted the Amway Corp. and several of its distributors.

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"This is about protecting our reputation," said Jim Johnson, the chief legal officer for P&G. "We will take appropriate legal measures when competitors unfairly undermine the reputation of our brands or our company."

The company over the years had been accused of having satanism represented in its logo, which was discontinued several years ago. There also were rumors that the company chief admitted profits went to the church of Satan.

P&G said the verdict came in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City against four now-former Amway distributors, after the Amway company itself was dismissed as a defendant when it argued it had acted quickly to halt the spread of the rumors.

Procter & Gamble said the distributors spread the false rumors to advance their own business.

The company has been battling the rumors for nearly half a century. This specific lawsuit was brought in 1995, claiming the distributors revived the satanist rumors then by using a voice mail system to tell thousands of people that a portion of the company's profits went to satanic cults.

The rumors had been documented as long ago as the 1960s, and developed into word that the company logo – a crescent man-in-the-moon viewing 13 stars in a field – was a satanic symbol.

The ex-Amway distributors reported they thought they'd be exonerated, and they were shocked by the jury's verdict.

"We are stunned. All of us," Randy Haugen, a 53-year-old businessman who was a defendant in the case and argued the company never was able to show it was harmed, told The Associated Press.

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He reported he'd forwarded an account of the rumors to another person's account, but also circulated a retraction. He also said he and the other defendants had had liability insurance for their actions while working for Amway.

The case originally had been dismissed by a trial judge, whose decision was upheld four years ago by a panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. However, P&G was able later to get the case re-activated.

A spokeswoman for Amway's corporate owner, now based in Ada, Mich., told The Associated Press Procter & Gamble would get from this case, which cost years of time, what it otherwise would make in two and one-half hours of its corporate operations.

"We think that's shameful," said Kate Makled.

The Website Christian Answers said the rumor not only is false, but "has been harmful to the witness of the gospel."

"A moon-star symbol was used by the company on many of its products from 1882 to 1985. In this picture, the stars stand for the 13 original American colonies, and the drawing is a company logo and nothing more," the Website said.

It reported the rumors began during the 1960s, and "without examining the facts, many people signed petitions against Procter & Gamble and boycotted their products."

In fact, the company is owned by stockholders, "not some sinister cult of moon worshipers!" but the story continued to be circulated, often by "misguided Christians."

The "source" often has been attributed to a talk from P&G's president on the Donahue Show, however, the company confirmed that "event" never occurred. That later grew to become the Sally Jesse Raphael Show, whose officials said such statements are a "hoax."

Christian Answers said several large Christian groups have dedicated time and efforts over the years to defeat the rumor, including The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Jerry Falwell, The Southern Baptist Convention, the Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk, archbishop of Cincinnati, and the Church of the Nazarene.

"Christians, please do not be gullible. Check out the facts of such weird claims before taking action," the site warned.

Focus on the Family's James Dobson did at one point recommend a boycott of the Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, but that was because of its efforts to overturn a city law barring special rights to homosexuals.

The American Family Association also had been part of that effort, for the company's financial support of a campaign to repeal a Cincinnati city-charter amendment approved in 1993 with 62 percent of the vote.

The company says it touches the lives of people around the world an estimated three billion times a day, and has more than 135,000 employees on staff in more than 80 nations.

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