Procter & Gamble

The Dr. Johns SpinBrush is the first affordable electric toothbrush. In just one year, the SpinBrush has become the number one selling toothbrush in the United States. Pictured (clockwise) are the three SpinBrush models - Child (race car model), Youth and Classic (adult). For more information, visit the Dr. Johns Products' website at www.drjohnsporducts.com

CINCINNATI, Dec., 13, 2000 - The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) today announced it will purchase Dr. Johns Products, Ltd, makers of the Dr. Johns Spinbrush - a high performance battery-operated toothbrush priced within a dollar or two of manual brushes.

"Many people still don't know it, but there's a toothbrush revolution going on. The SpinBrush has come from nowhere to become the most popular power brush in America in less than one year and is leading the conversion of manual brush users to powered brushes," said Michael Kehoe, P&G's vice president/general manager for global oral care. During the last six months, hundreds of thousands of people a week have been switching from manual toothbrushes to the Dr. Johns - soon to be Crest - SpinBrush.

"The SpinBrush is a real upgrade for consumers using manual brushes and its price makes it affordable for most families," said Kehoe. The brush is available at prices between $4.99 and $5.99. "The brush uniquely fills a gap between manual brushes at $2 to $5 and higher priced power brushes at $15 to $20. What's more, when considering both performance and price, consumers preferred the SpinBrush 2 to 1 over the leading manual brush and the leading battery-powered brush."

Launched in late 1999, the SpinBrush has done no consumer advertising instead driving sales through positive word-of-mouth from consumers, dentists, and retailers. Its success comes despite the fact that the product is still not fully available through all major retail chains.

P&G cited three reasons for the acquisition.

Fits P&G Focus on Big Brands
P&G recently announced a renewed focus on investing in big brands like Crest® , including smart acquisitions that build these top brands and leverage P&G's global scale. Kehoe said the acquisition will double the size of P&G's toothbrush business and fit well with Crest's mission of providing consumers with meaningful advances in oral health and hygiene.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of P&G's recent unveiling of Crest Whitestrips® , a convenient and affordable home whitening kit that is being called one of the biggest advances in tooth whitening of the last decade. Whitestrips will be available through retailers next year and are now available exclusively through dental offices or by visiting WhiteStrips.com.

Revolutionary Brush at Revolutionary Price
For just a dollar or two more than a manual toothbrush, SpinBrush's patented design features both stationary and high speed oscillating bristles, enabling people to use the manual brushing motion they are used to while providing the enhanced benefits a powered brush can deliver. All three versions of the SpinBrush (adult, youth, and child) feature a patented "Try Me" feature that allows consumers to turn on the brush in-store, stimulating fast in-store trial. Both the product and the price are unlike anything currently on the market.

Growing Category
Industry-wide for the past six months, U.S. manual brush sales are stagnant while electric/battery powered sales have soared 70% -- one of the fastest growing segments in the oral care category. At the same time, P&G's Kehoe says, there is tremendous growth potential since power toothbrushes are still in less than 20% of U.S. households.

To celebrate today's news, Crest and Dr. Johns donated 10,000 children's SpinBrushes to charity live on NBC's Today Show this morning. The brushes will go to needy children as part of the Today Show's Toys for Tots campaign and Crest's Healthy Smiles 2010 program, a multi-year effort to help the nation improve children's oral health in inner cities. The SpinBrush line includes highly popular kids versions.

John Osher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Johns Products, says his goal with the SpinBrush was "to create a breakthrough product that made high quality dental hygiene an affordable option for everyone. The unbelievable success of the product in its first year on the shelves illustrates that there was an untapped need in the marketplace. I'm so pleased that the people who brought the world the first professionally endorsed fluoride toothpaste will now be bringing forward this new advance in oral care." Osher said the company has received thousands of unsolicited testimonials from dental professionals and SpinBrush users, most of whom have never used an electric toothbrush before, who excitedly relate the benefits they see in the product such as:

• Outstanding cleaning action for white teeth and healthy gums.
• Affordability - the entire brush, which includes batteries, is one-third the price of the leading battery-powered brush.
• Ability to motivate children to brush longer and more often. One dentist told the company "your five dollar children's toothbrush may be the biggest improvement in oral hygiene since floss."

Although the companies declined to disclose the terms of the sale, P&G said the deal will more than double its annual $75 million toothbrush sales. P&G said it expects the acquisition will be completed within thirty days and that marketing plans will be announced soon.

Procter & Gamble markets approximately 300 brands to nearly five billion consumers in over 140 countries. These brands include Tide, Ariel, Crest, Pantene Pro-V, Always, Whisper, Pringles, Pampers, Olay, Iams and Vicks. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, P&G has on-the-ground operations in over 70 countries and employs more than 110,000 people worldwide. For more information on P&G and its products, please visit our worldwide website at http://www.pg.com. For more information on Dr. Johns Products and the Spinbrush, visit the company's website at www.drjohnsproducts.com