Those Clever Bods at P & G

If you read my blog you know I have certain, ahem, passions. Something that drives me crazy is anti-America bashing dressed up as social conscience. Pull the other one!

Here's a story about doing good that links into sound business practice and excellent public relations. I subscribe to a free newsletter from www.springwise.com and there's always something that catches my imagination - Japanese ear cleaning clinics, anyone?

The Springwise report:

"In Kenya, Procter & Gamble has just launched a two-year programme that will supply over 600,000 underprivileged girls with sanitary towels to ensure they remain in class during menstruation. A large number of girls in rural Kenya skip school during their monthly period, because their families are too poor to buy sanitary towels. It's estimated that this causes an average girl to miss more than a month of school each year."

"Working with Nakumatt, a Kenyan supermarket chain, and The Girl Child Network, P&G is matching the number of sanitary towels donated by Nakumatt shoppers to help girls stay in school throughout the month. And yes, of course this is a clever way to introduce consumers to one’s brand, and of course companies like P&G are in it for the profits, but that's what businesses do. Hey, as long as all involved win! What is your brand doing to help out those who need it most?"

I don't care about id cards - my passport gets "read" at least one a week and I'm still having a happy life. I don't care that spy planes may or may not have touched down at Shannon airport, or Luton or Stansted. I've seen and read about evil men, they exist, they have corporeal form, they should be squashed like bugs for the horror they inflict on innocent civilians. Fly 'em around? Whatever.