NPR logo Gulf Oil Spill Puts Dawn Soap In Spotlight

Gulf Oil Spill Puts Dawn Soap In Spotlight

I've noticed for some time that the labels on Dawn soap bottles sometimes have photos of Arctic creatures on them like a seal or bird.

But I never really made the connection between the soap and animals until I read an Associated Press story Friday in which that brand was mentioned.

Meanwhile, concern grew about animals and plants on the ecologically fragile coastline. A rescue operation at Fort Jackson, about 70 miles southeast of New Orleans, had its first patient Friday, a young northern gannett found offshore. The bird is normally white with a yellow head and long, pointed beak but was covered in thick, black oil. Workers with Delaware-based Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research use Dawn blue dishwashing soap to scrub any oil-tainted animals.

I didn't know this. Evidently, I missed this commercial: