Secret Deodorant Partners With Glee's Amber Riley To Take A Stand Against Bullying

NEW YORK, July 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In their ongoing commitment to support fearless women, Secret Deodorant has created the Mean Stinks program; a supportive Facebook community that gives young women the courage to stand up to a stinky behavior – bullying. To help this cause, Secret is partnering with relatable role models—Amber Riley, best known as Mercedes on the hit FOX show Glee, and Rachel Simmons, nationally renowned relationship expert—to start a movement of "nice." Together they are giving young women the strength to face challenges associated with bullying and mean behavior. Secret is also partnering with PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center by donating a portion of proceeds from select Secret Clinical Strength purchases to it's prevention efforts.**

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"I am excited to be a part of Secret's Mean Stinks program," says Amber Riley. "I know the challenges that young women face, mean behavior being one of them, and I want to stand strong against bullying by encouraging women to be nice and elicit positive change."

To spread the word, Amber will participate in Facebook Q&A sessions on the Mean Stinks page as well as appear in print advertising that helps support donations to PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center.

Rachel Simmons, a best-selling author and expert on the social issues facing young women is also jumping in to help. Rachel devotes her time to working with parents, educators and school leaders to help communities end bullying. Rachel and Secret have created an experience on Facebook that empowers young women by providing tools for them to face the difficulties and drama of bullying.  

Secret Proves "Mean Stinks"

To understand the depth of this epidemic, Secret commissioned a survey* of 1,000 young women, ages 16-21 to prove the proliferation of bullying extends beyond grade school and has intensified with the explosion of cyberbullying. Survey findings underscore that 48% of college-age students have experienced or witnessed bullying or mean behavior at college or in the work environment.

Secret's bullying survey with Russell Research revealed:

• 99% agree that being bullied stinks
• 94% of young women agree social media makes it easier for girls to bully or torment one another
• 73% felt angry and 64% have felt frustrated after witnessing someone being bullied
• 96% are personally concerned about seeing a person being bullied and no one doing anything to help
• 87% agree that social media sites have the power to be used positively in the fight against bullying

"Secret is a brand built to help women be more fearless, always taking a stand against what stinks. Deodorants fight odor and Secret Mean Stinks program fights bullying, " says Kevin Hochman, Marketing Director, Secret Brand, P&G Beauty. "Our goal is to empower young women to rise above bullying and to help we have created tools like our Mean Stinks Facebook community."

To help Secret stand up to bullying, go to www.facebook.com/MeanStinks and learn how your purchase of Secret Clinical Strength can benefit PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center** or show your support by purchasing a Mean Stink's t-shirt at the eStore.

Secret is also launching an iAd for the Mean Stinks program on Apple's mobile advertising network and will donate $1.00 to PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center for every user who saves a special wallpaper to their iPhone and iPod touch when they see the ad in their favorite apps.

* Findings for the total sample are projectable to the universe of online females between the ages of 16-21. At a 95 percent confidence level, a margin of sample error of +/- 3.1 percent applies to the sample.

**Request a coupon at Facebook.com/MeanStinks, and for every Secret Clinical Strength coupon redeemed, Secret will donate $1 to PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center.

About Procter & Gamble Beauty & Grooming

P&G Beauty & Grooming products help make beauty dreams real for women and help men look, feel and be their best everyday.  With 8 billion dollar brands and products available in nearly 130 countries, P&G's beauty and grooming products delivered sales of over $27 billion in fiscal year 2009/10, making it one of the world's largest beauty and grooming companies.  P&G Beauty & Grooming offers trusted brands with leading technology to meet the full complement of beauty and grooming needs, including  Pantene®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Max Factor®, Cover Girl®, DDF®, Frederic Fekkai®, Wellaflex®,  Rejoice®, Sebastian Professional®, Herbal Essences®, Koleston®, Clairol Professional®, Nice 'n Easy®, Venus®, Gillette®, SK-II®, Wella Professionals®, Braun® and a leading Prestige Fragrance division that spans from point of market entry consumers to high end luxury with global brands such as Hugo Boss®, Lacoste®, and Christina Aguilera®.  Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G (NYSE: PG) and its brands.

SOURCE Procter & Gamble