Survey Shows Wives Want More Support and Appreciation; 'Brawny Academy' Helps Men Clean Up Their Act

Survey Shows Wives Want More Support and Appreciation; 'Brawny Academy' Helps Men Clean Up Their Act

Hubby Not Helping Out At Home? Send Him To School!

ATLANTA, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Are American husbands a washout at cleaning the house? Better at watching the game than watching the kids? Spark- free at igniting romance? To find out, the maker of Brawny(R) paper towels went to the source -- their wives -- and then packed eight husbands off to Brawny Academy(TM). They will be trained in the ABC's of pitching in at home, and the lessons will be captured in an online reality show.

The sad-but-true answer to all the questions above is "yes." In a new survey fielded for the maker of Brawny, almost half of American wives say they want their husbands to be better at cleaning around the house. Over a quarter of the women claimed their husbands never even put down the toilet seat! Hearing their plight prompted the maker of Brawny to find a way to help -- and Brawny Academy was born.

"My husband gave me his credit card for my birthday and told me to go pick out my own gift!" said Andrea Kiley, wife of Brawny Academy participant Michael Kiley. "He is a terrific guy in many ways, but he needs some basic training in taking care of the kids, the house - and me!"

The eight men's Brawny Academy experiences will be captured in an entertaining series of "webisodes," which can be viewed at www.brawnyacademy.com beginning June 12.

In each segment, the husbands -- who were chosen from across the country -- learn tools and techniques they can use to be more helpful around the house. The intensive nuts-and-bolts training covers key chores, giving the guys a clue about cooking, cleaning, caring for children, and fixing things around the house.

The husbands' stay at Brawny Academy also includes some fine tuning of their personal skills, showing them how to communicate better and spark romance with their wives.

"American wives are fed up with their spouses falling down on the job at home, so we decided to help out by teaching a few of them how to be like the Brawny Man: strong and versatile," said Steven Sage, Georgia-Pacific Vice President of Marketing, Towel and Napkin Categories. "Just as Brawny paper towels help make their lives at home easier, the wives told us that they think the man in their house should too."

"Women have, and always will, wish their husbands helped out more around the house. With this idea, The Brawny Man becomes a women's advocate by teaching their husbands how," said Kris and Alisa Wixom, Brawny Academy Art Directors at Fallon Minneapolis.

The husbands selected to take part in Brawny Academy are:
- Matthew Heinrich, McKinney, TX
- Roland Briggs, Framingham, MA
- Greg Francis, Boston, MA
- Michael Kiley, Quincy, MA
- Buck McCombs, Dallas, TX
- Barclay Scheick, East Hempstead, NH
- Alfonso Mann, Los Angeles, CA
- Tom Choi, Seattle, WA

Brawny Academy(TM) is created and produced by Fallon Worldwide, in association with Feisty Flix.

About Georgia-Pacific

Headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of tissue, packaging, paper, pulp, and building products and related chemicals. The company employs approximately 55,000 people at more than 300 locations in North America and Europe. Its familiar consumer tissue brands include Quilted Northern(R), Angel Soft(R), Brawny(R), Sparkle(R), Soft 'n Gentle(R), Mardi Gras(R), So-Dri(R) and Vanity Fair(R), as well as the Dixie(R) brand of disposable cups, plates and cutlery. Georgia- Pacific's building products manufacturing business has long been among the nation's leading suppliers of building products to lumber and building materials dealers and large do-it-yourself warehouse retailers. For more information, visit www.gp.com.

Source: Georgia-Pacific

CONTACT: Jennifer Babbit, +1-404-832-6342, or
Jennifer.Babbit@edelman.com, or Melanie Muccio, +1-212-704-8209, or
Melanie.Muccio@edelman.com, both of Edelman, for Georgia-Pacific

Web site: http://www.brawnyacademy.com/
http://www.gp.com/

-------
Profile: intent