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Essence® Music Festival® Sponsored by the Procter & Gamble My Black is Beautiful 2009 Tour

Cincinnati, OH (July 2, 2009) — The 2009 Essence® Music Festival serves as the perfect final stop on the Procter & Gamble (P&G) 2009 My Black is Beautiful regional tour. This festival of culture, music and wellness parallels the principles of the tour: empowering African-American women to embrace their beauty, health and wellness. The My Black is Beautiful tour and campaign were created to celebrate African-American women pioneers who spread positive and uplifting ideals throughout their community.

The My Black is Beautiful campaign has evolved into a nationwide movement with the launch of a national television series that aired over the months of May and June 2009 on BET Networks. The campaign is designed to ignite and support a sustained national conversation about the way African-American women are reflected in popular culture. It also serves as a catalyst for these women to adopt a new mindset in how they view themselves.

"We cannot think of a more fitting occasion with which to end our 2009 My Black is Beautiful tour than at this grand celebration of art, culture and wellness," said P&G Multicultural Brand Manager Kisha Mitchell Williams. "Not only do we end the tour on a supremely high note at the Essence® Music Festival, but to also end in the city of New Orleans, which is steeped in African-American history and culture, we feel is the most appropriate way to close out our 2009 tour."

A recent P&G consumer survey revealed that 90 percent of African-American women feel that Michelle Obama's role as First Lady will have a positive impact on perceptions of African-American beauty. Results from respondents also indicate that 86 percent of African-American women feel that young black girls will be inspired to embrace their own sense of self-identity as a result of Malia and Sasha's role as First Family. Results from a 2007 P&G My Black is Beautiful survey found that 77 percent of African-American women are "concerned" about the way they are portrayed in popular media. The vast majority, 71 percent, say that they are portrayed "worse" than other racial groups in the media. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that teens are negatively influenced by those images.

The My Black is Beautiful campaign, created by a group of African-American women at P&G in 2006, aims to ignite and support a sustained national conversation by, for and about black women. The integrated, multi-brand initiative is supported by Crest® Pro-Health™, Pantene® Pro-V® Relaxed & Natural, CoverGirl® Queen Collection, Olay® Definity, Always®, Tampax® and Clairol® Beautiful Collection®.

For more information about the My Black is Beautiful campaign and multicity tour, visit www.myblackisbeautiful.com.

About My Black is Beautiful

My Black is Beautiful celebrates the diverse collective beauty of African-American women and encourages black women to define and promote their own beauty standard, one that is an authentic reflection of their indomitable spirit. My Black is Beautiful kicked off a 2009 four-city tour in Charlotte, NC, in April. Additional My Black is Beautiful tour events took place in Atlanta (May 2, 2009) and Chicago (May 30, 2009), and the finale is in New Orleans (July 3 - 5, 2009).

About Procter & Gamble

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always, Whisper®, Pantene, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest, Oral-B®, Actonel®, Duracell®, Olay, Head & Shoulders®, Wella, Gillette® and Braun. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide.

Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About the 2009 "State of Black Beauty Survey"

The "State of Black Beauty Survey" was fielded January 12 to 13, 2009. Respondents to the survey were African-American women, ages 18 to 54 (sample 1,000+), who responded to a self-administered online survey that explored their knowledge and attitudes toward perceptions of African-American beauty and the effect that has occurred on their perceptions post-election. Respondents were self-selected.

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