The oil company Shell is working with the PR firm Edelman "in an effort to bring the gasoline experience home to consumers in a hands-on fashion." The wide-ranging campaign kicked off at the Daytona 500, with Shell-sponsored NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick. Other campaign activities include a video game "where players can race cars while avoiding 'gunky desposits'"; exhibits on Shell's history and the "Future of Energy," including "alternative fuels"; and "an interactive game that lets people record themselves having a conversation with a virtual Harvick and then upload the videos to YouTube for an extra viral component," according to PR Week. "Shell hopes to reach 2 million people with the tour," which will travel to 15 cities over the next few months. Edelman is helping Shell "harvest consumers' cell phone numbers, conduct online surveys, and gauge message uptake in the media for ongoing measurement and follow-up communications."

R.J. Reynolds caused a stir recently by unveiling new female-targeted Camel cigarettes, "Camel No. 9." Camel cigarettes have for years been targeted at the "virile segment" -- male smokers whom RJR thinks respond to ads that feature pictures of macho men climbing mountains, fording rivers and such. RJR's targeting of women is not new, however. They have intensely studied women for decades, even to the point of hiring a female psychophysiologist to determine the effects of the menstrual cycle on the "positive aspects of smoking specific to women." RJR's "Project VF" (for "Virile Female") targeted a new cigarette brand toward less-educated, low income or unemployed women who tend to wear blue jeans, whose favorite TV characters are "bitches" and who like to attend tractor pulls and monster truck rallies. This led to "Dakota" brand cigarettes, since discontinued. Women from around the country wrote to RJR to protest the brand, but RJR didn't learn from all the offense it generated. Camel No. 9, just as offensive, uses pink packaging and flowery ads, which will run in Cosmopolitan, Flaunt, Glamour, Vogue and W., to once again target women.

Johnson & Johnson's biopharmaceutical unit, Centocor, "has developed a documentary film to serve as the centerpiece of a national campaign," reports O'Dwyer's. The movie, "Innerstate," follows "three patients living with chronic diseases like Crohn's disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis -- ailments for which Centocor markets treatments. Centocor's drugs aren't mentioned in the movie, however." According to Centocor PR director Michael Parks, "These diseases are quite complex and not easily explained in a 30- or 60-second ad. We wanted to find something that would give us enough real estate to have a discussion." The healthcare PR firm Dorland is promoting the movie. At least 14 U.S. cities will host movie screenings, complete with appearances by "local medical experts and support groups, along with the film's patients."

From an ad by the U.S. National Energy Institute

In a stunning defeat for Prime Minister Tony Blair's national energy review, Britain's High Court ruled the process a "sham" consultation exercise. The environmental group Greenpeace had "accused the Government of acting illegally by failing to consult properly on its nuclear power plans before giving them the go-ahead." The court found the 12-week process to be "seriously flawed," "misleading," and "procedurally unfair," not to mention "wholly insufficient for [the public] to make an intelligent response." The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, admitted that the government "will have to start a new round of consultations on nuclear power." Darling added that the government "still intended to reach a decision by the end of the year," and pointed to an editorial by Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace member now a public relations executive and paid consultant for the nuclear industry. Blair was originally intending to declare nuclear power "a vital ingredient in Britain's energy programme," in a White Paper to be released next month. The NuclearSpin website warns that in the wake of Balir's legal setback, citizens can "expect the pro-nuclear lobby to gear up for a major PR offensive in the coming months."