Tide® Debuts New Ad Campaign Urging Parents to Keep Tide® Pods™ “Up, Closed and Safe” and Redesigns Tide Pods Package with a New Child-Guard™ Zipper
CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tide® is launching a new campaign today to help reduce
accidental access of laundry packets by young children and updating its
Tide® Pods™ package design with a new Child-Guard™ zipper
beginning in May.
“We are deeply committed to reducing access to these products by young
children,” said Sundar Raman, North America Vice President of Fabric
Care for Tide’s parent company, Procter & Gamble. “Many people,
especially families, love the convenience of Tide Pods, but with this,
comes the need to keep them up, closed, and safe – away from kids.”
The new advertising campaign, which debuts nationwide April 20th,
shows how accidents in the home can happen in a split second and
encourages parents to keep laundry packets up, closed, and safe around
young children. https://youtu.be/-JJ-Q45-k30
The campaign also includes an online video that challenges viewers to
identify 11 everyday dangers in the home in five seconds, the time it
might take a child to access a potentially harmful item. https://youtu.be/LtWSpGbh7AI
The updated Tide Pods package complies with a new ASTM standard which
provides manufacturers with guidelines on laundry packet design and
packaging. The Tide Pods bag features a Child-Guard zipper that P&G
co-developed with packaging company Presto Products.
“We tested the Child-Guard zipper, and 90 percent of kids under age 5
could not open it, even after being shown how to open the bag,” said
Brad Hansen, President of Presto Specialty at Presto Products. “It’s
important that people close the package to get the full benefit of the
new Child-Guard zipper.”
Last year, P&G announced it was changing the design of its laundry
packets, adding a bitter-tasting substance on the outer film, ensuring
the packet’s film is designed to delay release of the liquid inside, and
ensuring the packets withstand the average squeezing pressure of a small
child. These provisions are now a part of the ASTM standard. Prior to
this, P&G led a series of changes to its packages and warning labels,
including more secure closures and opaque package materials so contents
are less visible.
“Little kids are quick and put everything in their mouths,” said Kate
Carr, President and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. “It takes a
multi-pronged approach by both industry and parents to help keep
children safe, which is why outreach to parents about the dangers in the
home remains critically important in helping reduce injuries in
children.”
P&G has partnered with organizations like Safe Kids Worldwide and the
American Cleaning Institute to promote laundry packets safety via social
media, daycare centers, pediatricians, shared laundry facilities, and
other channels.
In the United States, laundry packet sales are growing on average 17
percent each year and are used in over 26 million households. An
estimated 0.5% of the 2.2 million calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers
each year (about 12,000 calls) are related to laundry packets of some
kind. Often children access these products when the package is left open
or laundry packets are left outside of the container.
The new bags with the Child-Guard zipper will replace Tide’s current bag
packaging and will be phased into stores beginning in May through the
summer. The Child-Guard zipper bags will also be available on Gain® Flings™
laundry packets, which are manufactured by P&G. Consumers will still be
able to purchase Tide Pods and Gain Flings in plastic tubs that are
currently in stores.
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest
portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®,
Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®,
Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®,
Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G
community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide.
Please visit http://www.pg.com for
the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.
Contacts
Procter & Gamble
Anitra Marsh, +1-513-780-6331
marsh.ac.2@pg.com
or
Rotha
Brauntz, +1-513-612-0312
brauntz.rp@pg.com
