Procter & Gamble is pulling the plug on soap operas.

Household goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble is ditching television in favour of social media.

The company has sponsored and made television serials for over 70 years, helping to spawn the name soap opera.

Its last such series - As the World Turns - went off air earlier this year.

Instead, parcel delivery and courier services working for the firm will find it is turning its attention to social media.

The decision comes partly in response to the Smell Like a Man, Man video on YouTube, which became a viral sensation with millions of views.

Advertising its Old Spice aftershave, the video showed Isaiah Mustafa sitting atop a motorcycle.

"The digital media has pretty much exploded," the firm's marketing chief Marc Pritchard told the Associated Press.

"It's become very integrated with how we operate. It's become part of the way we do marketing."

Procter & Gamble will be hoping that a survey from Empathica which found 60 per cent of internet users follow brands on social media proves true.

Posted by Tom Sands 

Article Added: 13/12/2010 09:27:02