CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 2, 2026--
After famously solving one of pop culture’s greatest mysteries by unveiling “Spruce Let The Dogs Out,” Spruce Weed & Grass Killer is ready to unleash its next big move. Today, the P&G Ventures brand is expanding its pack with the introduction of a new mascot: Bruce the Spruce Dog!
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260302493134/en/
Bruce the Spruce dog is here to change the weed control game by proving it is the ultimate pet friendly and weed deadly option. As the first and only mascot for a weed killer brand, Bruce is on a mission to highlight how homeowners can take care of their weeds worry-free without keeping their four-legged family members stuck inside.
“Bruce isn’t just a fun face for the brand: He represents the heart of why Spruce exists in the first place,” says Jessi Ettelson, Senior Brand Director of Spruce Weed & Grass Killer. “Yard work shouldn’t mean using products that require you to lock your family and pets indoors. Bruce serves as the ultimate motivator for spring prep, giving people the peace of mind to tackle their weeds without worrying about the trade-offs currently in the category.”
Bruce the Spruce Dog makes his debut this March with a slam-dunk campaign proving that Spruce is safe for use around people, pets AND mascots when used as directed. Four new creative assets from Spruce will showcase Bruce joining four beloved college basketball dog mascots including Fresno State’s “TimeOut”, Gonzaga’s “Spike the Bulldog”, University of Tennessee’s “Smokey” and UCONN’s “Jonathan the Husky” to reinforce Spruce is letting the dogs out! He will also draft an elite roster of influencers to join the Spruce All Star Team, each ready to show off their best “plays” for a winning yard!
Bringing even more star power to the roster is a fun cameo from sports announcer Kirk Herbstreit and his beloved Golden Retriever, Peter. Fresh off their viral Super Bowl LX partnership with Spruce, the duo appears in the creative spots, bringing their commentary expertise from the game of football to the match-up between homeowners and weeds.
The introduction of Bruce is just another way Spruce is changing the game in the weed killer category. Thanks to its innovative formula with simple ingredients, Spruce offers a worry-free and hardworking solution to tackling weeds. With Spruce’s wide range of products, weed control is no longer a time-consuming struggle, but a surprisingly satisfying and fun task that delivers visible results in one hour with dead weeds in one day.
Bruce’s adventure is just getting started. Be sure to follow along and join the conversation on Spruce’s TikTok and Instagram channels to see where Bruce pops up next!
About Spruce™
Spruce is a fast-acting weed & grass killer that delivers visible results in one hour - and best of all - is safe for use around people, pets and bees when used as directed. Formulated and developed by scientists at Procter & Gamble, Spruce is made differently to work differently with ten simple yet effective ingredients. It is the #1 credentialed weed killer, including winning the Product Of The Year Award, Parent Tested, Parent Approved Award, and the Good Housekeeping Award. Spruce products are available at major retailers across the U.S. For more information on Spruce, visit SpruceIt.com or connect on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
About Procter & Gamble Ventures (PGV)
Procter & Gamble Ventures (PGV) is the innovation engine of Procter & Gamble, creating and scaling disruptive new brands that solve unmet consumer needs with bold, consumer-first thinking. Built on a startup mindset and grounded in P&G’s science, marketing and global reach, PGV pursues “constructive disruption” to create new categories and meaningful solutions that help people live life better.
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at https://www.pg.com/news.
Spruce Weed & Grass Killer Introduces Mascot; Meet Bruce the Spruce Dog
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices climbed, and stock markets slipped Monday as investors and households got the first chance to see what the war in the Middle East could mean for their finances.
Crude prices jumped more than 6%, which will likely translate into higher prices at gasoline pumps, because of fears that a widening war could slow the global flow of oil. More expensive fuel will also hit many U.S. companies, and sinking stocks for airlines, cruise lines and others helped drag the U.S. stock market lower.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% after dropping as much as 1.2% at the start of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 165 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:05 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.
Prices climbed for natural gas, meanwhile, which could mean higher heating bills for the remainder of the winter, after a major supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe said it would stop production because of the war. Gold climbed 2.2% as investors looked for safer things to own and as U.S. officials tried to persuade the world that this war will not last forever.
“This is not Iraq,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday. “This is not endless.”
Typically, Treasury yields also fall when investors are feeling nervous. But yields instead climbed, in part because higher oil prices will put upward pressure on inflation, which is already above what most everyone would like. That could tie the Federal Reserve’s hands and keep it from cutting interest rates.
Lower interest rates can help the economy and job market, while also worsening inflation. Higher rates can do the opposite.
Past military conflicts in the Middle East have not caused long-term drops for markets. For this war to knock down U.S. stocks in a significant and sustained way, the price of oil would perhaps need to jump above $100 per barrel, according to strategists at Morgan Stanley led by Michael Wilson.
They're still well below there. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 6.3% to $71.23. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 7.2% to $78.15 per barrel.
At the moment, nevertheless, fear is rising.
Stocks of airlines were some of Monday’s sharpest losers. Not only do higher oil prices threaten their already big fuel bills, the fighting in the Middle East closed airports and left travelers stranded.
United Airlines fell 3.3%, and American Airlines lost 4.3%.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell even more, 11.9%. It needs customers to have plenty of cash to spend after paying for their gasoline bills and other essentials.
The cruise operator also reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue fell short. Its forecast for profit this upcoming fiscal year was weaker than analysts expected.
Hotels, discount retailers and other companies that benefit when customers have more cash in their pocket from lower fuel bills also lagged the market. MGM Resorts fell 5.1%, and Dollar Tree lost 2.9%.
Stocks in the housing industry also struggled as higher Treasury yields could translate into higher mortgage rates. Paint company Sherwin-Williams fell 3.1%, and homebuilder D.R. Horton lost 2.9%.
Helping to limit Wall Street's losses were oil companies, which benefited from the rising prices for crude. Exxon Mobil climbed 2.1%, and Occidental Petroleum rose 2.1%.
Companies that make equipment for the military also rallied. Lockheed Martin climbed 3.5%, and RTX rallied 3.6%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Germany’s DAX lost 2.3%, France’s CAC 40 fell 2.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.1% for some of the world’s larger losses.
Stocks in Shanghai were an outlier and rose 0.5%.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.03% from 3.97% late Friday. A report showing growth for U.S. manufacturing was better than economists expected last month also helped to lift yields.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader John Bishop works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Iraqi Shiite carry a mock coffin of Iranian supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Tehran, during a symbolic funeral, in Najaf, Iraq, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, March 1, 2026, in Tokyo.(Yohei Fukai/Kyodo News via AP)
A pedestrian walks outside the New York Stock Exchange during a snow storm, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
FILE - Fishermen work in front of oil tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz Jan. 19, 2012, offshore the town of Ras Al Khaimah in United Arab Emirates. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
Snow falls outside the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
