Colgate-Palmolive advertising spend, FY2025

Colgate-Palmolive (CL) reported $2.7B of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. That is 13.3% of revenue of $20.4B. Down 0.6% from FY2024.

Ad spend, FY2025
$2.7B
year ended Dec 31, 2025
Change vs prior year
-0.6%
vs FY2024
Share of revenue
13.3%
of $20.4B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#22
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 1.8x its FY2015 level ($1.5B), faster than revenue (1.3x).
  • The highest year on file is FY2024 at $2.7B; FY2025 is 1% below it.
  • Largest increase +18.7% in FY2023; largest cut -16.4% in FY2015.
  • Ad spend is 13.3% of revenue, up from 11.8% in FY2020.
  • Colgate-Palmolive spends more on advertising than 94% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is 2.6x the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $1B $2B $3B FY2008 (ended 2008-12-31): $1.6B FY2009 (ended 2009-12-31): $1.5B FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): $1.7B 2010 FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): $1.7B FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): $1.8B FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): $1.9B 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): $1.8B FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): $1.5B FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): $1.4B 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): $1.6B FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): $1.6B FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): $1.7B 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): $1.9B FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): $2B FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): $2B 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): $2.4B FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): $2.7B FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): $2.7B 2025 $2.7B

Ad spend as % of revenue

0% 5% 10% 15% FY2008 (ended 2008-12-31): 10.8% FY2009 (ended 2009-12-31): 10.0% FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): 10.6% 2010 FY2011 (ended 2011-12-31): 10.4% FY2012 (ended 2012-12-31): 10.5% FY2013 (ended 2013-12-31): 10.9% 2013 FY2014 (ended 2014-12-31): 10.3% FY2015 (ended 2015-12-31): 9.3% FY2016 (ended 2016-12-31): 9.4% 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-12-31): 10.2% FY2018 (ended 2018-12-31): 10.2% FY2019 (ended 2019-12-31): 10.8% 2019 FY2020 (ended 2020-12-31): 11.8% FY2021 (ended 2021-12-31): 11.6% FY2022 (ended 2022-12-31): 11.1% 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-12-31): 12.2% FY2024 (ended 2024-12-31): 13.5% FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31): 13.3% 2025 13.3%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2025 Dec 31, 2025 $2.7B -0.6% $20.4B 13.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 23, 2026
FY2024 Dec 31, 2024 $2.7B +14.7% $20.1B 13.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 23, 2026
FY2023 Dec 31, 2023 $2.4B +18.7% $19.5B 12.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 23, 2026
FY2022 Dec 31, 2022 $2B -1.2% $18B 11.1% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 13, 2025
FY2021 Dec 31, 2021 $2B +3.7% $17.4B 11.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 15, 2024
FY2020 Dec 31, 2020 $1.9B +15.0% $16.5B 11.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 16, 2023
FY2019 Dec 31, 2019 $1.7B +6.5% $15.7B 10.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 17, 2022
FY2018 Dec 31, 2018 $1.6B +1.1% $15.5B 10.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 18, 2021
FY2017 Dec 31, 2017 $1.6B +10.2% $15.5B 10.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 21, 2020
FY2016 Dec 31, 2016 $1.4B -4.2% $15.2B 9.4% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 21, 2019
FY2015 Dec 31, 2015 $1.5B -16.4% $16B 9.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K/A Feb 21, 2018
FY2014 Dec 31, 2014 $1.8B -5.7% $17.3B 10.3% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 23, 2017
FY2013 Dec 31, 2013 $1.9B +5.5% $17.4B 10.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 18, 2016
FY2012 Dec 31, 2012 $1.8B +3.3% $17.1B 10.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 19, 2015
FY2011 Dec 31, 2011 $1.7B +4.7% $16.7B 10.4% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 20, 2014
FY2010 Dec 31, 2010 $1.7B +8.0% $15.6B 10.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 21, 2013
FY2009 Dec 31, 2009 $1.5B -7.0% $15.3B 10.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 23, 2012
FY2008 Dec 31, 2008 $1.6B n/a $15.3B 10.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 24, 2011

What the figure is

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to Colgate-Palmolive in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
21 Eli Lilly $2.9B 4.4% +107.1% FY2025
22 Colgate-Palmolive $2.7B 13.3% -0.6% FY2025
23 Ford $2.7B 1.4% -3.6% FY2025
24 Microsoft $2.7B 0.8% +28.6% FY2026
25 Pfizer $2.7B 4.3% -18.2% FY2025
26 Universe Pharmaceuticals $2.5B 14.1% -50.9% FY2025
27 AMD $2.4B 6.9% +100.0% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest cuts #93

Questions

How much does Colgate-Palmolive spend on advertising?

Colgate-Palmolive spent $2.7B on advertising in fiscal 2025, the year ended Dec 31, 2025, according to its 10-K filed Feb 23, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does Colgate-Palmolive spend on advertising?

13.3% of revenue in fiscal 2025 ($2.7B of $20.4B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is Colgate-Palmolive spending more on advertising?

No. Ad spend fell 0.6% in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2024.

How does Colgate-Palmolive rank by advertising spend?

#22 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does Colgate-Palmolive's advertising figure include?

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2025, filed Feb 23, 2026
Accession number
0000021665-26-000006
Company
COLGATE PALMOLIVE CO, CIK 21665, SIC 2844 (Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
Colgate-Palmolive advertising spend, FY2008-FY2025. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Feb 23, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/colgate-palmolive/advertising-spend/
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