McMaster Children™s Hospital patient, Keaton Millar, age 5, gets help from Child Life Specialist, Kristyn Grabko, to power his toy during playtime. The Hamilton hospital is among nine Canadian hospitals to receive a donation of batteries for playroom to

TORONTO, ONTARIO. - Nov. 28, 2008 - What puts a smile on the faces of Canadians during the holiday season? According to a new survey, Canadians say the top two reasons to smile over the holidays are spending time with the family and seeing children open gifts.

Spending time with family members was chosen as the leading reason to smile by 61% of participants in the survey, commissioned by Duracell, while 46% of survey participants also said watching children open gifts is sure to put a smile on their face.

In an effort to power more smiles than ever for Canadian families this holiday season and throughout the next year, Duracell will again be donating thousands of batteries to the playrooms of nine hospitals across the country as part of its Power a SmileTM campaign. The program has expanded to include four more Canadian hospitals in this its second year.

Hospitals in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax will share more than $51,000^* worth of batteries being distributed by Duracell to power hospital playroom toys and the smiles of young patients receiving medical care over the holidays.

"We know that the power of play and laughter can help to speed up the healing process and having working toys in our playrooms for the patients receiving care is an important part in achieving this," said Dr. Jeremy Friedman, Head of Pediatric Medicine at Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. "Duracell's Power A Smile initiative is a welcomed and much appreciated gesture that fills a gap in helping bring a smile to children who are in the hospital."

Hospitals will receive nearly 30,000 Duracell batteries in total during the second annual Power a Smile campaign, with hospitals in Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Halifax being included in the program for the first time this year.

"Most Canadians are welcoming the holiday season as a special time to gather with friends and family at home, but for many children and youth, the holiday season will be spent in hospitals. Duracell's efforts to make those young patients smile at this time of year are to be highly commended," said Alida Bowman, program manager, McMaster Children's Hospital.

According to Alan Rego, external relations manager for Duracell, "We are thrilled to be involved in this special holiday season initiative for the second year in a row. Duracell has added more hospitals and cities to our donation list and our dedicated efforts to Power a Smile will include even more Canadian children and their families."

While Duracell helps to bring smiles to kids who will be in the hospital this holiday, they are also reminding all Canadians to include batteries when giving battery-powered gifts to family and friends at this time of year. More than a third of Canadians (36%) polled in the 2008 Power a Smile survey admitted that they have forgotten to include batteries with gifts they have given out in the past.

The survey also shows that:

• More than two in five (42%) of those surveyed have received a battery-powered gift with out the batteries and were unable to use it right away;

• Almost half (49%) of Canadians surveyed said they have witnessed the disappointment of an adult or child being unable to use a gift right away because the right batteries were not on hand;

• In addition, 30% said they have witnessed someone lose interest in a gift over time because they didn't have enough batteries to power the gift.

Duracell suggests that families stock up on batteries of various sizes to ensure they are well-equipped to power up gifts that come without the necessary batteries, from remote control toys to video game remotes, computer equipment, music and entertainment gadgets and beyond. For high-drain devices, such as digital cameras, it's a good idea to have suitable long-lasting batteries specifically designed for these items, such as Duracell PowerPix(TM) or their New Low Self Discharge Rechargeable batteries. Just in time for the holidays, Duracell is also offering a special AA 8 pack with a bonus mini screwdriver which is great for toys and other gadgets, available at participating retailers, while supplies last.

Finally, Duracell reminds us to never remove the batteries from emergency devices such as smoke alarms and flashlights to use in gifts. Safety comes first. For additional information, please visit www.duracell.com/ca. For more information on the Power a Smile campaign, visit www.powerasmile.ca.

From October 29 to October 30, 2008, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1,005 adult Canadians through the Angus Reid Forum. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to Statistics Canada's most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a representative sample of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

^*Based on average retail prices of 8,959 packages of five Duracell battery types.

About Duracell
Part of Procter & Gamble, Duracell is the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance alkaline batteries. Duracell also sells various other types of batteries including lithium and zinc air batteries, as well as rechargeable Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries and chargers. The company also markets general purpose flashlights. Visit www.duracell.com for more information about Duracell batteries.

About Procter & Gamble
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Always(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Pringles(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. P&G is the leading consumer products company in Canada with over $2.9 billion in annual sales. Please visit www.pg.ca for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

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