Harry and Meghan partner with company which she once called sexist
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation has announced a long-term global partnership with consumer goods company Procter & Gamble.
The collaboration with the American multinational will focus on gender equality, inclusive online spaces, and resilience and impact through sport.
It is the same company the Duchess wrote to as an 11-year-old girl to complain about sexist language in their national TV ad for dish soap.
She launched a letter-writing campaign to object to the commercial which included the line ‘Mothers around America are fighting greasy pots and pans’.
Meghan asked them to change the commercial to ‘people all over America’ and the company subsequently amended the language.
She appeared in an interview with Nick News in 1993 to talk about her campaign, saying she was ‘furious’ at the advert for P&G’s Ivory Clear, adding: ‘When they heard this, the boys in my class started saying, “Yeah, that’s where women belong – in the kitchen”.’
The Archewell website, announcing the partnership, said: ‘Archewell Foundation believes that with community, and through compassionate service to others, we can unleash systemic cultural change.
‘In service of doing this, and building more compassionate communities, Archewell Foundation announced a multi-year global partnership today with Procter & Gamble.’
Procter & Gamble is best known for owning major brands such as Crest, Oral B, Gillette, Pampers and Tampax.
Its vast business portfolio includes baby, feminine and family care, beauty, fabric and home care, shaving products and healthcare. It reported net sales of 67.7 billion dollars in 2019.
The statement on the foundation website added the partnership would ‘elevate the voices of adolescent girls’ to make sure ‘their point of view and lived experience is heard at the tables where decisions are made’.
The foundation also pledged to work with men and boys to encourage gender equality.
‘Together we will underscore the importance of engaging men and boys in the drive for gender equity throughout society and encourage shared caregiving at home so everyone in the family can thrive,’ it said.
Harry and Meghan, who plunged the monarchy into crisis with their recent Oprah interview, quit as senior working royals in March 2020.
They had wanted a dual role, earning their own money and supporting the Queen.
But the plan was unworkable, and would have led to accusations they were profiting from the monarchy and sparked potential problems scrutinising companies they might have gone into business with.
A so-called ‘hard Megxit’ left them free to pursue multi-million pound deals with Netflix and Spotify.
They also set up Archewell, which is a not-for-profit organisation that strives to ‘uplift and unite communities … one act of compassion at a time’.
The foundation said it will build on joint aspirations with P&G, which it worked with in support of Global Citizen’s Vax live concert, a charity performance in aid of the international Covid vaccination effort.
It will also join with P&G to ensure ‘parents of every makeup and all walks of life have the support they need’.
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