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Myth: Proctor and Gamble’s Logo is a Cult Symbol

Proctor and Gamble, Television Commercials

Myths about products, people, and companies easily make the rounds in society. It seems that these rumors happen with or without the Internet. One of those myths was that Proctor and Gamble is secretly owned by the Moonies.

So, first of all, who are the Moonies? The Moonies are members of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church. Moonies is a derogatory term for these members based on the founder’s name. However, the members of the Unification church either ignored the name, joked about the name, or even used the name themselves. The most controversial beliefs are probably that the Lord Jesus did not come to die and that the Second Coming must be a man born in Korea in the 20th century who got married and had children.

So, how did it come to be rumored that Proctor and Gamble is owned by “Moonies”?

It seems to have started spreading with the spread of paranoia about the legions of “Moonies” that sold flowers. Members of the unification church would often stand on street corners or in the malls and sell flowers and candles.

The logo that used to be used by Proctor and Gamble was a man in the moon logo with thirteen (13) stars. Since there was a man in the moon, some people thought it was a secret symbol to Moonies that the company was owned by Moonies.

When Proctor and Gamble first heard of the rumor in 1979, they ignored it. However, after they got over 1,000 letters asking about the logo in a single month, they issued a press release. For several years after that, they still got over 300 letters about the logo every month.

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Also, some people believed that this same logo was a satanic symbol. This was based from the Bible verse Revelation 12:1. Some people say that the symbol is a mockery of the heavenly symbol described in this verse. Also, it is said that where the white beard meets the surrounding circle, the number 666 can be seen upside down. Then it is said that there are also two horns like a lamb which represents the false prophet.

The rumor got worse with a story about how the company’s president appeared on a Saturday edition of the Phil Donahue show and claimed he was a satanist. However, the company’s president never made an appearance and the Phil Donahue show never ran on a Saturday.

Proctor and Gamble explained that the logo was the man in the moon overlooking thirteen (13) stars which represented the original thirteen (13) colonies.

However, the rumor got so bad that Proctor and Gamble changed the logo to a simple “P&G.;”

Up until 2004, the man in the moon logo appeared at the end of television commercials in Japan. It still appears at the end of television commercials in Hong Kong and China and is the logo printed on stock certificates.