Letter to the makers of “Joy” (the dishwashing detergent)

Our letter to ‘Joy’ is first, and their response second.

February 14, 2005

Procter & Gamble

1 Procter & Gamble Plaza

Cincinnati, OH 45202

To Whom It May Concern:

Earlier this afternoon, while washing my family’s dishes, I happened to glance at my bottle of “Joy” detergent. Your “Droppy” character and subsequent web address caught my eye, and I soon found myself typing ‘www.joydroppy.com’ into my AOL browser [note to readers: the URL has since been changed to www.joydish.com]. Little could I have foreseen the hellish carnival of poop I was about to behold. Dear God, what the hell is wrong with you people? This website is twisted, frightening and wrong, not to mention retarded. Who do you expect to take this seriously? Is it the demented, drunken, valium’d up housewife looking for a sweet ray of cartoon distraction in her otherwise miserable day? Do you expect people to get such a kick out of a dishwashing soap and soap-related activities that they’ll download a picture of its terrifying mascot for their very own? It’s soap, for Christ’s sake! And the recipes are just stupid. Welcome to reality; your company is a decent and upstanding one, but you will never be hip or entertaining. You make soap. Although the entire website is both distressing and creepy, the most disturbing and acid-trip resembling part has to be the “Meet Droppy” page. What twisted mind envisioned this madness? Nobody wishes they “could spend a little more time with [their] favorite joy-loving dish guy.” I wish I had never read the “Who Is Droppy” section of this page, for maybe then I could sleep at night, knowing not that this kind of foul weirdness existed in an otherwise sane and logical world. Somebody thought way too hard about this, or perhaps composed this website copy in a drunken stupor. Either way, damn. Furthermore, who the hell is Lauren Groveman, and why are we supposed to give a shit? Thank you for your time, and please continue to make your fine product available in all major grocery and drug stores.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth (Last name withheld)

—————————————————————

Response:

Product: Joy Question

Category: Website

Date Created: 02/14/2005 07:25 PM

Last Updated: 02/23/2005 02:41 PM

Status: Solved

Response (Linda) - 02/23/2005 02:41 PM

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks for sharing your reaction to our website for Joy. I’m sorry you don’t like it. Comments on our advertising and the content of our website guide us as we plan for the future. I appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your thoughts and I’m sharing them with the team responsible for www.joydroppy.com. Stop by any time.

Linda

Joy Team