Procter & Gamble

Fresh and Feisty New Ad for Downy Unstopables™ Brings Together Spokesperson Amy Sedaris and Football Legend Joe Greene for Re-Make of Classic Super Bowl Commercial

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2012-- In a continuation of its strides to take the mundane chore of doing laundry and make it fun and feisty, Procter and Gamble’s (NYSE:PG) Downy Unstopables® will be featured in the fabric softener brand’s very first advertisement on Super Bowl Sunday, airing during the pre-game show Sunday, February 5^th between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm on NBC. Downy is choosing to shake up Super Bowl Sunday by recapturing the magic of the past and freshening up one of the game’s most memorable commercials– Coca Cola’s 1980 advertisement featuring the legendary “Mean” Joe Greene of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Downy will also be entertaining viewers during the game by launching a special “Touch Downy” giveaway, which will capitalize on the excitement that ensues when a team scores a touchdown. Downy will be giving away surprises on the brand’s Twitter account every time either team takes it into the end zone for a touchdown.

Fresh and Feisty New Ad for Downy Unstopables(TM) Brings Together Spokesperson Amy Sedaris and Football Legend Joe Greene for Re-Make of Classic Super Bowl Commercial (Photo: Business Wire)

“Downy Unstopables was designed to shake up your routine, and give you a fresh, fun way to look at laundry. In that same respect, through our sponsorship with the NFL, we wanted to add a feisty boost of freshness to Super Bowl Sunday as well,” said Carolina Rogoll, Downy Brand Manager. “Partnering with Joe Greene to re-make this iconic commercial and creating a giveaway that consumers can participate in on game day has allowed Downy to take a nostalgic look at a classic Super Bowl TV moment in a fresh way and allow today’s audience to create their own memorable moments.”

This time around Greene joins feisty actress and author Amy Sedaris, who has been featured in previous commercials for the product, to bring a more playful feel to the ad. In the spot, Amy hands him a bottle of Downy Unstopables with a childlike innocence, similar to the boy originally paired with Joe 33 years ago. Her offer is meant to be a fresh solution after a long game, when Downy Unstopables, an in-wash scent booster that contains four times the perfume ingredients as regular Downy liquid fabric softener, can really come in handy.

“When Downy approached me about recreating Coca Cola’s Super Bowl commercial from 1980, it didn’t take much to convince me,” said Joe Greene. “I loved the idea of allowing fans to re-live such a classic television moment in a completely new and entertaining way.”

AMPLIFYING THE NFL SPONSORSHIP

In addition to making its first ever appearance on Super Bowl Sunday, Downy will be amplifying the sponsorship across a number of other marketing mediums. The exciting ad will be pre-seeded through iMedia, as well as a re-branding of the YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/downy) featuring Joe Greene. Consumers can participate in the “Touch Downy” giveaway on the Downy Twitter page (http://www.twitter.com/downy) using the hashtag #TouchDowny. Each time a team scores a touchdown, consumers who tweet the hashtag at the Downy Twitter account (@Downy) will receive Downy products and Unstopable Fan packages.

Downy’s sponsorship of the NFL gives the brand a great platform to reach a broader audience. From an increased effort to engage with consumers and drive trial through its social channels, to this NFL sponsorship, Downy is shaking up the category with its unique marketing approach.

DOWNY UNSTOPABLES ALLOWS CONSUMERS TO MAKE THEIR LAUNDRY “SCENT-SATIONAL”

Downy Unstopables is an exciting in-wash scent booster that provides an amplified sensory experience and a freshness that stays “feisty” until the next wash. To help consumers transform their laundry routine into an exhilarating experience, Downy developed a special bead form that concentrates the freshness ingredients. This convenient form is easy to use and allows consumers to control the amount of scent that gets added to each laundry load. The product simply dissolves during the wash cycle and is safe to use in any washing machine, including high efficiency washing machines, at any temperature. When tested in a laboratory setting, Unstopables freshness lasted for an astounding twelve weeks. Depending on your mood, shake a little or a lot of the beads into your washing machine or combine it with your favorite Downy liquid fabric softener to really shift your laundry into “scent-sorial” overdrive and reach levels of freshness that you never thought were possible.

Downy Unstopables comes in two exhilarating scents that when used alone or combined with current Downy liquid fabric softener variants give consumers a completely customized freshness for their laundry. “Fresh” Unstopables is perfect for consumers who like a clean, crisp, and refreshing scent, and can be used in tandem with Downy Clean Breeze for an incredible scent boost. For consumers who enjoy being soothed, relaxed, and pampered, “Lush” Unstopables will enhance the benefits of Downy Simple Pleasures Lavender Serenity. While these Unstopables scents blend seamlessly with liquid fabric softener, the freshness benefits are also extraordinary on their own. Unstopables is available for the suggested retail price of $6.99 for a bottle. It can be purchased at any retail store where Downy is sold. Actual retail price is up to the sole discretion of the retailer.

About Downy®

Downy® offers a line of advanced fabric care conditioning products that helps keep clothes feeling soft and smelling fresh. Downy’s family of liquid fabric softener includes: Ultra Downy, Downy with Febreze® Fresh Scent, Downy Pure Essentials™, Downy Experientials™, Downy Unstopables™ and Downy Simple Pleasures®. Downy also offers a variety of dryer sheets. For more information, please visit www.Downy.com.

About Procter & Gamble

P&G touches and improves the lives of about 4.4 billion people around the world with its portfolio of trusted, quality brands. The Company's leadership brands include Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Fairy®, Gain®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun®, Fusion®, Ace®, Febreze®, and Ambi Pur®. With operations in about 80 countries, P&G brands are available in more than 180 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Joe Greene

Joe Greene was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. He is a four-time Super Bowl Champion. Please visit http://www.meanjoegreene75.com to learn more about Joe Greene.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50152747&lang=en

Source: Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble
Sherilena Strub, 513-983-3267
strub.sm@pg.com
or
DeVries Public Relations
Jessica Greco, 646-253-0229
jgreco@devries-pr.com