Soap Opera:: The Inside Story of Proctor & Gamble

In this scathing account, Swasy, who covered Proctor & Gamble for three years for the Wall Street Journal , looks at a generally well-regarded corporation which--if the author is to be believed--has thrived on a combination of Nixonian political deviousness and brutality like that of the KGB. P&G, founded in 1837, manufactures such American commonplaces as Ivory soap, Tide, Crest, Crisco and Pampers. Exposing a corporate mindset which produces stilted, cookie-cutter executives, she traces many problems to CEO Ed Artzt, a workaholic whose hero is Attila the Hun. Swasy examines allegations that P&G continued to market Rely tampons in 1980 when they knew they caused toxic shock syndrome, resulting in several women's deaths. Other horror stories include the use of animals in lab tests; the firm's retaliation against those who protested its pollution of the Fenholloway River in Florida and discussion of P&G's involvement in the politics of El Salvador. Swasy also charges that P&G put her under surveillance and monitored her phone records. Sometimes the author seems to be grinding an axe, repeatedly using phases like ``he felt he was being watched'' without offering solid evidence. Although the thorough negativeness makes it hard to believe any corporation could be this devious, the book remains a chilling look at the corporation as Big Brother. BOMC and Fortune Book Club selections; author tour. (Oct.)