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business Tuesday 2 February 2021
What do consumers want now? P&G bets on beard oil, cleaners

By JOSEPH PISANI ering all the needs when it to do is try to make it sim-
AP Retail Writer comes to shaving. pler. So we created this
NEW YORK (AP) — Procter Q: Has P&G sold beard spray. You don’t have to
& Gamble is cleaning up grooming products be- scrub, you just spray it and
during the pandemic. fore? then either wipe or rinse off.
The company’s sales were A: On a very minor basis. Q: With the pandemic
up last year, since it hap- But this was the first one de- and people home more, is
pens to make just about signed to make sure that it P&G changing the types of
everything people need- really focused on people products it makes for con-
ed while staying at home: that wanted beard care. sumers?
Charmin toilet paper, It’s got ways to condition A: What we’re now doing
Bounty paper towels and the beard, ways to trim, it’s is looking at what are the
Tide laundry detergent. got the whole thing. problems that need to be
One new product came at Q: Did the company see a solved. Doing more dishes
the right time: need for a new disinfectant in the sink? Spray on Dawn.
Disinfectant spray Micro- with Microban 24? Was the Need to clean your surfac-
ban 24 was released in timing lucky? es? Clean with Microban
February 2020, just before A: The consumer need for 24.
U.S. lockdowns began and keeping surfaces clean Q: Many of P&G’s products
as people rushed to find and free of bacteria is a promote the idea that they
cleaning products that major unmet need that’s are made with less water or
could keep surfaces and been around for a long plastic packaging. Do peo-
door knobs germ-free. time. We’ve been working ple still care about the en-
“This product, as you can on it for years. It just hap- vironment during a health
imagine, is on fire right pened that we launched crisis?
now,” said Marc Pritchard, right when the pandemic A: Yes. What’s interest-
P&G’s chief brand officer. hit. ing about it is that while
Not so hot: Gillette razors. Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard holds Q: Dish soap has been in people are spending more
Sales are flat as men skip up the Gillette Heated Razor during a Procter & Gamble news squirt bottles for decades. time at home, they’re get-
their morning shave rou- conference, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Las Vegas. Why launch a Dawn dish ting more and more inter-
tines while they work from Associated Press soap that sprays? ested in the environment.
home instead of the office. talked about people’s Q: Are people shaving dur- A: What we were seeing What they are recognizing,
It is now selling beard oils shaving habits and how ing the pandemic? was this consumer behav- for example, is how much
and balms, a major shift P&G is creating products A: They’re still shaving, just ior of cleaning one dish at a water they’re using; how
for a brand that has pro- for consumers who are not as frequently. For those time. They were taking the much heat and energy
moted clean-shaven faces home more. who want beards, we’ve bottle, squirting a little bit of they’re using; how much
for more than a century. In The questions and answers introduced King C. Gil- dishwashing liquid onto the plastic waste they’re creat-
a recent interview with The below have been edited lette, which is a beard care dish and cleaning it and ing. There’s a heightened
Associated Press, Pritchard for clarity and length. product. We’re really cov- rinsing it. What we wanted interest.q

Wall Street’s GameStop bug may have mutated; silver surges

NEW YORK (AP) — The er- The online army of Reddit on Reddit anonymously,
ratic trading in shares of traders have banded to- attempting to drive them
underdog companies like gether for the past week out of GameStop bets
GameStop that turned to pour money into out-of- and into silver, but only af-
markets combustible last favor companies such as ter hedge funds had taken
week appears to have GameStop and AMC. In huge positions.
migrated to commodities, the process, they’ve done The number of Game-
sending silver prices surg- heavy damage to hedge Stop shares that have
ing to an eight-year high. funds that had bet the been shorted (bets that
Silver futures jumped al- shares would fall in a stun- the stock will fall), were
most 12% on Monday to ning reversal of financial slashed by more than half
over $30 per ounce fol- power on Wall Street. in recent days, according
lowing strong gains over But the rush into silver fu- to a report Monday by the
the weekend. That exu- tures has created confu- analytics firm S3 Partners.
berance spread to com- sion amid the chaos, with Shares of GameStop
panies that mine precious some retail traders on Corp., which signaled a
metals, especially silver. Reddit calling the surge in seismic and perhaps short- In this file photo dated Wednesday, May 9, 2007, Silver bullion,
Shares of Pan American commodity prices a “false lived power shift in finan- bars weighing five kilograms each, are displayed in the trading
Silver surged more than flag.” “IT’S A TRAP!” one cial markets, fell 20% Mon- room of the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany.
9%, First Majestic Silver rose Redditor warned. day. But the stock price, as Associated Press
18.7%, Hecla Mining spiked Some of these smaller it has been for more than niting a market correction. think the correction is over
21.8%, and Coeur Mining traders believe the hedge a week, is tremendously “Markets corrected 3-5% until leverage is reduced
soared 17.6%. funds that were pillaged volatile. The price was up with many of our favored further by both institutional
On Twitter, #silversqueeze last week are behind the sharply before the open- trades taking a much and retail investors.”
began to trend as just the surge in silver. Commu- ing bell. The battle over needed and expected Analysts who monitor silver
latest anomaly to emerge nications on messaging GameStop, according hit,” Wilson wrote. “This is markets say there is more
from the “WallStreetBets” boards claim hedge funds to Morgan Stanley, may normal in an exuberant to the story than small in-
forum on Reddit. have now become active have played a part in ig- bull market, but we don’t vestors rushing in. q