• Ad Age, Wednesday, April 4, 2007 12 PM

Procter & Gamble Co. is the first pet food marketer to launch ads about the nationwide pet-food recall tied to contamination that may have killed or sickened thousands of cats and dogs. The company took out full-page ads in 59 daily newspapers on Tuesday that feature a letter from employees of its Iams and Eukanuba brands.

The aim is to reassure pet owners that food still on the market is safe and that none of the dry food ever contained wheat gluten -- the suspected culprit -- or were affected by the recall. The ad campaign is described as a "first step" by a P&G spokesman and comes as the recall has been widened to three more manufacturers beyond the first one, Canada's Menu Foods.

The P&G ad offers no apology, but describes employees as "heartsick that any of our Iams and Eukanuba products were involved." P&G adds it has offered more customer-service people and a veterinarian support line in response as well as suspending all production at one affected plant.

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