Procter & Gamble and Dawn: Engaging America's Concern for the Gulf's Oil-Soaked Wildlife

You've got to hand it to the folks at Procter & Gamble.

On the one hand, they've found a way to cash in on the worst environmental disaster in our nation's history ... and on the other, emerge as one of the great saviors -- in fact, the only hope -- for untold thousands of sickened, oil-soaked seabirds.

All because they manufacture the diswashing liquid Dawn.

Dawn is acknowledged by wildlife experts as the only -- yes, the only -- product available capable of taking oil off the birds without harming their delicate bodies.

So what did the P&G marketing team come up with? The "Dawn Saves Wildlife" campaign.

Dawn Saves Wildlife gives us consumers an opportunity to contribute to the lifesaving efforts along the Gulf Coast by "helping Dawn help wildlife." It links us to the "Everyday Wildlife Champions" Facebook page, where we can sign up to donate, and where, if we do, P&G will donate $1 for every bottle of Dawn we buy. It also links people who want to help in the rescue. It updates them, informs them, helps them build a community of caring human beings.

Now:

If you want me to express outrage over this consumer-product giant profiting from such a terrible disaster -- because profit they most certainly are -- well, I can't do it. I wouldn't dream of it. P&G is sending thousands of bottles of Dawn to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, all free of charge. It is involving Americans many hundreds of miles away from the oil spill. It is engaging them in truly meaningful life support.

P&G is showing us that a vast, free-market entity can make a profit and still be one of the good guys.