Procter & Gamble axes relationship with propaganda channel
Procter & Gamble is the latest firm to cut ties with a Georgian TV channel after it was sanctioned by the UK and labelled a mouthpiece of the Russian state, City PM can reveal.
The giant behind brands including Gillette and Pampers had continued to advertise with Imedi TV despite the company being flagged on the UK government sanctions list in February. An internal investigation carried out by John Brandon, a senior director and head of P&G’s European ethics and compliance office, led to the firm cancelling their business with the media company on Monday, City PM understands.
A similar probe has been launched by Nestle, led by the company’s global head of legal Leanne Geale, City PM reported yesterday. Other global brands, including the commercial arm of the BBC, cut ties as soon as Imedi was listed as a sanctioned company by the Foreign Office.
Procter & Gamble has faced criticism over its Russian operations since the start of the war in Ukraine. In February 2023 it was named as an “international sponsor of war” by Ukraine’s National Agency for Corruption Prevention despite scaling back its operations there, including discontinuing new capital investments and suspending its media, advertising, and promotional activity.
A spokesman for Procter & Gamble said: “P&G follows the law in every market where we serve consumers, and we take a rigorous approach to sanctions compliance including our media purchasing practices. We have not breached the UK sanctions regime. However, we have voluntarily adjusted our approach and paused advertising from Imedi TV in Georgia.”
The Georgian channel, founded in 2003 by tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, is listed on the official UK sanctions list and described as spreading “deliberately misleading information concerning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
Imedi TV “provides support for or promotes a policy or action which destabilises Ukraine or undermines or threatens the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.
“In particular, it regularly disseminates content that the Ukrainian Government and President Zelensky are illegitimate, Ukraine is a ‘puppet’ of the West, Ukraine is a corrupt country and that Ukraine and the West are seeking to destabilise Georgia.”