Procter & Gamble To Shrink By Half, Remain Enormous

Procter and Gamble own practically everything, it feels like. From pet food to Pepto-Bismol, Tide to tampons — P&G is in a zillion businesses. But today, the company announced that they want to be in many fewer businesses. Less than half of what they currently own, to be specific.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the company plans to drop over half of their brands, setting somewhere between 90 and 100 of them loose in the breeze.

But the thing about having a zillion brands (it really is a big list) is that half a zillion is still quite a lot. And those hundred or so brands P&G is dropping? They’re mostly the ones you’ve never heard of.

The company may currently own something close to 200 brands, but while Dawn and Duracell are household names in the United States, you really can’t say the same for Alomatik, Dodot, Fairy, Viakal, Mr. Proper, or Rindex (all real).

In fact 90% of the company’s profits come from just 50 of its existing brands, and those aren’t going anywhere. The company plans to focus on “70 to 80” of its core brands, according to the WSJ.

Pantene, Pampers, and Prilosec are almost certainly all safe. You will be able to buy Bounty paper towels or Cover Girl mascara with no trouble, or Swiffer your kitchen floors and fix it with Fixodent. But if your favorite way to clean is one of the less-popular brands, there might be no Joy (or Myth, Gala, Fab, or Dash) in your future.

P&G to Shed More Than Half Its Brands [Wall Street Journal]

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