New York Times/Business March 27, 2001
Procter & Gamble Suit Over Satan Rumor Resurrected By GEANNE ROSENBERG
For decades, Procter & Gamble has been dealing with a public relations nightmare: a false and harmful rumor that the company says was fueled in the 1980's and 90's by some Amway distributors who sell paper goods, soaps and other household staples in competition with P.& G.
Now, a federal appeals court panel in New Orleans, in a decision issued last month and revised on March 12, has resurrected a suit P.& G. had filed against Amway. The decision that could offer companies very powerful ammunition against mudslinging competitors. ... [we have to wait until the 6th paragraph for,]
The gist of the rumor is that P.& G. has ties to Satanism and that a lot of the company's profits go to the Church of Satan. The rumor historically implicated P.& G.'s "man in the moon" logo, associating it with the devil. Though the company stopped using the logo on its products in the late 1980's, that has not stopped the stories from resurfacing.
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