Brands
P&G pledges Rs 50 crore for vaccine doses, as Covid2019 batters India
Mumbai: As India struggles to combat the record spike in Covid2019 cases, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced on Monday that it will contribute towards the vaccination of over five lakh Indian citizens by pledging Rs 50 crore in partnership with government and local authorities in India.
For every P&G employee in India, the company will contribute towards the vaccination of 100 Indians, it said. The FMCG major said it will also cover the vaccination cost of its 5000+ employee force in India, and their eligible immediate family members.
With as many as 3,52,991 fresh Covid2019 cases and 2,812 deaths, India witnessed a new record high on Monday as the deadly second wave took a toll on the people. This is the fifth straight day that over three lakh cases have been recorded by the country.
P&G brands Whisper, Vicks, Pampers, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders and Pantene are partnering in this vaccination drive through their brand programs and will also continue to raise awareness on safety and hygiene in the country.
P&G Indian subcontinent CEO Madhusudan Gopalan said, “P&G is committed to playing an active role in India’s fight against Covid2019. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, through our #PGSurakshaIndia program, we have stepped up to support the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees, our consumers and the communities. In the current situation and going forward, vaccines play a critical role in containing the spread of the virus.”
Contribution towards vaccines will be on top of P&G’s earmarked CSR funds for the current year. Under its #PGSurakshaIndia program, the company will also continue to donate products, in-house manufactured masks and sanitisers specially to aid frontline and essential workers who are tirelessly working to combat the spread of Covid2019.
The company said it will also continue to leverage its advertising and brand voice responsibly to increase awareness on health, safety and hygiene measures among consumers and the community.
It has so far donated more than 35 lakh health, hygiene and cleaning products (which include Whisper, Ariel, Tide, Vicks, Pampers etc) to the communities it operates in. P&G stepped up its manufacturing capabilities to produce masks and hand sanitisers to donate more than 15 lakh masks in the country’s fight against Covid2019.
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
