"Close to 100 New England towns have passed resolutions opposing the unregulated use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms); nearly a quarter of these have called for local moratoria on the planting of GMO seeds. In 2004, three California counties, Mendocino, Trinity and Marin, passed ordinances banning the raising of genetically engineered crops and livestock." In response, "fifteen states recently have introduced legislation removing local control of plants and seeds. Eleven of these states have already passed the provisions into law." The move to deny local control over food was launched at a May 2004 American Legislative Exchange Council forum, where industry groups proposed a "Biotechnology state uniformity resolution." Previously, the tobacco industry used a similar approach. A Philip Morris employee explained, "By introducing preemptive statewide legislation, we can shift the battle away from the community level back to the state legislatures where we are on stronger ground."

The industry lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) is launching "an aggressive new PR plan," highlighting its new CEO, former Congressman and cancer survivor Billy Tauzin. According to PhRMA senior vice-president of communications Ken Johnson, the new plan includes reorganizing media relations "almost like a beat system," with point people for "state, federal, or international outreach." PhRMA has also launched a radio series called Healthcare Now, "which Johnson likens to an ANR (audio news release) that can be played in small markets without health reporters." PhRMA is also "building an onsite studio" to allow Tauzin to do more television interviews and speaking events. Johnson said part of PhRMA's PR strategy is to make Tauzin "an evangelist for the pharmaceutical industry."

A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) advertising campaign, coinciding with Laura Bush's Middle East visit last week and designed to improve America's image among Palestinians, lacked a Palestinian spokesperson. "None of the Palestinian entertainers or athletes approached by the agency would serve as 'goodwill ambassador'," so an "Israeli Arab soccer player" was recruited. Billboards and TV ads highlight USAID education and water projects in the Palestinian territories, in line with recent Council on Foreign Relations suggestions to make U.S. aid to Muslim countries more visible. But USAID "cancelled plans to contract a firm to develop an integrated communications plan for its initiative to foster public-private alliances in its overseas work," the Global Development Alliance. No reason was given for canceling the plan to promote "USAID's successes."

Joan Lowy notes that environmental groups like Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network and the Texas Campaign for the Environment are having success with campaigns that bypass government and directly lobby corporations instead. The trend bemuses Eric Dezenhall, the president of Dezenhall Resources, a Washington D.C. PR firm with a reputation for promoting aggressive strategies against activist groups. "The desire of corporations to be accepted by the marketplace and to be personally liked has spawned an entire industry of activism and corporate capitulation that I've never seen before - it's unprecedented ... I've seen situations where companies are simply being harassed so badly that it pays to get out of a certain endeavor just to make the harassment stop," he said.