Procter & Gamble is giving away 1 million pounds of food to bring pet owners back to its Iams brand after a widespread pet-food recall that included some Iams products.
The March recall of contaminated food produced by co-packer Menu Foods affected 100 brands, mostly private-label store brands, and decimated pet food shelves nationally. Nine lines of Iams and Eukanuba foods and snacks were recalled. Its dry food, which Iams Pet Foods manufactures itself, was not affected.
This week, P&G issued “the Iams Promise” to reassure pet owners that all its non-recalled foods are safe. To back it up, Iams is offering a free 4-lb. bag of dry pet food to 250,000 pet owners.
Consumers register at IamsPromise.com to get a voucher by mail. The vouchers can be redeemed for a 4-lb. bag of dry food or the equivalent value off a larger bag (up to $6.50 for dog food, $10 for cat food). Registrants can also opt in to get Iams’ e-mail newsletter.
The giveaway is “a gesture of our dedication to keeping your pets healthy and happy,” Iams said on its site. “We recognize that this is an uncertain time for pet owners who may be unsure what they can feed their pets.”
The three-part “Promise” reinforces Iams’ positioning as a high-end, veterinary-recommended food. The company promises “to provide the highest standards of quality in our production facilities,” with new quality-control measures following the suspension of Iams production in Menu Foods factories, “to dedicate ourselves to outstanding research and development for the most advanced knowledge of pet health and nutrition” and “to provide your pet with our highest-quality nutrition that’s veterinarian recommended.”
On April 3, 18 days after the initial recall was announced, P&G ran a full-page ad in 59 daily newspapers in the U.S. and Canada reassuring pet owners that its dry food was safe, and outlining steps that Iams was taking to recall tainted products.
The affected pet foods made by Toronto-based Menu Foods used wheat gluten that was contaminated by melamine, provided by a supplier in China. Menu Foods said it expects the recall will cost the company at least $30 million to $40 million.
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