P&G pledges Rs 50 crores for India’s vaccine drive

The fund will be utilised for procuring 10 lakh vaccine doses, which will be sufficient to inoculate up to 5 lakh Indians.

30 Apr 2021 | By Aultrin Vijay

Procter & Gamble has announced that the company will contribute towards the vaccination of over 5 lakh Indian citizens by pledging Rs 50 crores in partnership with the government and local authorities in India.

For every P&G employee in India, the company is contributing towards the vaccination of 100 Indians. In addition, the company will also cover the vaccination cost of its 5,000+ employee force in India, and their eligible immediate family members. P&G brands Whisper, Vicks, Pampers, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders and Pantene are partnering in this vaccination drive through their brand programmes and will also continue to raise awareness on safety and hygiene in the country.

Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, P&G Indian subcontinent said, “We recognise the urgent need for health experts, relief organisations, government and industries to come together as one in our fight against the pandemic.”

“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, through our #PGSurakshaIndia programme, we have stepped up to support the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, our consumers and the communities,” Gopalan said. “In the current situation and going forward, vaccines play a critical role in containing the spread of the virus. We strongly believe that partnering with various governments and local authorities, who are leading the inoculation initiatives for citizens, will enable us to make a meaningful difference to the communities we operate in.”

This contribution towards vaccines will be on top of P&G’s earmarked CSR funds for the current year. Under its #PGSurakshaIndia programme, P&G will also continue to extend its support to the broader community through the donation of products, in-house manufactured masks and sanitisers especially to aid frontline and essential workers. The company said it will also continue to leverage its advertising and brand voice responsibly to increase awareness on health, safety and hygiene measures among consumers and the community.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the company, P&G launched the #PGSurakshaIndia programme and has been partnering with the government and relief organisations to serve frontline workers and the communities. Through this programme, P&G has donated more than 35 lakhs of its health, hygiene and cleaning products to the communities where it operates.

The company said P&G stepped up its manufacturing capabilities to produce masks and hand sanitisers to donate more than 15 lakh masks in the country's fight against Covid-19. In addition to this, the company launched various other programmes to support India’s fight against Covid-19.

“In total, via these forces for good campaigns and efforts from the company’s trial/in-store teams; P&G has reached more than five crore Indians to spread awareness on safety, health and hygiene. P&G also partnered with the government and industries to kick-start an initiative called 'Suraksha Circles' and engaged with more than 1400+ organizations/SMEs to lay down the highest standards of hygiene and safety at manufacturing facilities,” the company claimed.

P&G sustainable campaign which includes doubling the use of recycled resin in plastic packaging


Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer, Procter & Gamble

The CPG giant is out with a new campaign, “This is Our Home,” built around the insight that 72% of people want to be more environmentally conscious at home, but more than half (54%) don’t make sustainable choices as often as they’d like, citing barriers including not knowing how (30%) and feeling it’s too complicated or overwhelming to do so (24%).

The spot, developed with Saatchi & Saatchi, features a little girl named Louisa who teaches her family how to be more sustainable through small actions, such as washing laundry with cold water, turning off the lights and sink tap, closing the fridge door, taking shorter showers and recycling.

“Our products have a very large impact on the environment because of the water they use, the energy used to heat the water and the waste that is generated,” said Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard. “In order to help deal with the climate emergency and get to carbon neutrality, it is going to require activities in the home.”

P&G worked to hit a number of sustainability goals over the past decade by 2020, including eliminating manufacturing waste in landfills globally, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, reducing water usage per production unit by 27%. WhatPackaging? readers will be keen to know that this includes doubling the use of recycled resin in plastic packaging.

Now, it’s committed to hitting another set of more ambitious goals by 2030, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by another 50%, cutting down water usage in homes and getting to carbon neutral across its operations for the next decade.