P&G takes official secrets action

Procter & Gamble, the paranoid purveyor of Ariel washing powder and many other essential products, has a reputation for insisting on complete confidentiality from its suppliers.

Such is the US company’s concern that information about marketing plans for its brands should slip into the wrong hands, it demands Cold War-style secrecy from its advertising agencies.

The agencies are required to have separate rooms to store files on the P&G account, which are not only kept under lock and key, but even have special code numbers for anyone seeking to enter. The code numbers are presumably kept under lock and key, and themselves require code numbers for access.

As if this wasn’t enough, P&G also sends out security advisers to check the files and make sure they haven’t been tampered with. If any of the files are not as they should be, instant agency liquidation is the order of the day.