July 24 - Procter & Gamble will next week become the latest major multi-national company to sign up as a sponsor of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a deal that will include London 2012.



A press conference is scheduled for London next Wednesday (July 28) to announce that P&G, the United States fifth biggest company, will sign a $100 million (£65 million) deal to become the IOC's 11th global sponsor. 

The deal will extend the one that P&G signed with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) last September, which included 17 of the company's barnds, including many used by women, such as Cover Girl, Olay, Pantene and Secret.  

"The Olympics is one of the highest-watched sports events by women," P&G's global marketing officer Marc Pritchard said at a recent event.

"Sports are one of the ways that families are brought together."



Individual athletes making P&G endorsements included speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, skier Lindsey Vonn (pictured) and snowboarder Lindsey Jacobelli.

P&G, whose headquarters are in Cincinnati, operates in 180 countries, will join a list of TOP sponsors that already includes  Coca-Cola, GE, McDonald’s, Panasonic, Samsung, Visa and the Dow Chemical Company, who signed a deal with the IOC in New York last week.

Last summer, P&G announced a sponsorship deal with the National Football League involving 13 P&G brands.


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