Procter & Gamble placed nearly identical op-eds pushing for corporate tax cuts

Source: Media Matters

Procter & Gamble has been placing virtually identical op-eds supposedly written by different authors arguing for corporate tax cuts in newspapers across the country. In comments to Media Matters, some of the editors of those newspapers criticized the company for their tactics, with one saying the company would be blacklisted from the paper.

In recent weeks, the company has been helping place op-eds by manufacturing plant managers across the country in their respective newspapers that tout the alleged benefits of cutting corporate taxes to the economy (numerous economists disagree). While those op-eds all have different authors, they are virtually the same except for a few sentences about the P&G plant in the area. The North Carolina-based website Greensboro 101 first noted the similarities in a December 11 post. (Thanks to reader R.K. for passing on the information.)

Those op-eds are:
•A November 24 op-ed in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (WI) by Green Bay plant manager Dan Lloyd. (Update: The publication has since added an editor's note to the top of the piece.)
•A November 25 op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune (UT) by Box Elder manager Joe Tomon.
•A December 5 op-ed in the Southeast Missourian by Cape Girardeau plant managers Jack Geissinger and Tim Hayner.
•A December 6 op-ed in The Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA) by Mehoopany plant managers Laszlo Varga and Jose Manuel Sanchez.
•A December 10 op-ed in the News & Record by (Greensboro, NC) Greensboro plant managers Kevin Hazel and John Sorjonen. (The paper has since added an editor’s note.)

P&G defended the op-eds in the following statement to Media Matters (the statement also appeared in the News & Record):

"When P&G decided to promote the benefits of corporate tax reform, we encouraged most of our U.S. plant managers to write Op-Eds or Letters to the Editor for their local newspapers. Many accepted. Working as a team, a format was devised that was consistent and accurate. The fact that many of our plant managers, from all over the country, agreed on the content further demonstrates that corporate tax reform is a necessity to keep U.S. companies competitive in the global market. This topic impacts every P&G business and manufacturing site, and we appreciate the leadership of our plant managers."



Read more: Link tohttps://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/12/13/procter-gamble-placed-nearly-identical-op-eds-pushing-corporate-tax-cuts-different-authors-numerous/218832 source