As Boston magazine reporter John Gonzalez worked on a profile of Jeremy Jacobs, the executive vice president of the Bruins ice hockey team, "Jacobs's apprehension about the piece appeared only to grow. The day after the story went to press, a lawyer retained by Jacobs sent us a letter inquiring about some of the sources for the article," writes Gonzalez. Then, marketing executive Wendy Watkins "called one of the [Boston] magazine's sales reps to ask whether or not the story about Jacobs was going to be 'positive.' If so, Watkins said, the Bruins might be interested in buying a series of ads. If not, however, the deal would be unlikely." When Gonzalez asked Watkins about the offer, "she said she typically makes such calls whenever one of the company's 40,000 employees is going to be written about. Watkins insisted that the offer to advertise with the magazine was not an attempt to influence the story." She also told Gonzalez that "the realities of the business" mean that "if somebody gets hatcheted by a publication," they aren't likely to advertise with them.

Kate Brookes stars in one of many Siemens VNRsThe Germany-based engineering company Siemens is launching its most extensive ad campaign ever, as it grapples with "a massive corruption scandal." The "Siemens answers" campaign, developed by WPP's Ogilvy & Mather, will run in "major markets around the globe." Siemens is spending $148 million a year on the three-year campaign, which highlights health care, energy and industrial "technologies being developed by Siemens." In addition to print ads, the campaign will include billboards, television ads and "keyword-based marketing" online. The goal is to "help Siemens regain the public's trust," after allegations surfaced that company managers paid bribes to win infrastructure contracts in several countries. Siemens is also a frequent funder of video news releases. Meanwhile, Ogilvy's lobbying arm "is seeking various federal approvals for a controversial $3B coal-fired power plant proposed for Desert Rock on Navaho land in New Mexico," reports O'Dwyer's. Ogilvy Government Relations is working for Sithe Global Power, which portrays the plant as "a way to meet the fast-growing energy needs of Phoenix and Las Vegas." Environmentalists and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson oppose the plant.

"What has been known for more than three decades as the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association now has a new name, the Personal Care Products Council, and with a new persona comes a fact-laden product safety Web site designed to win consumer trust," reports Women's Wear Daily. The changes come after cosmetics safety studies and pressure campaigns by public health and environmental groups. As the Center for Media and Democracy reported last year, the recently-renamed industry group commissioned focus groups about cosmetics safety issues. One focus group participant told CMD that they "were asked to fill out worksheets describing a website with information on cosmetics ingredients, to be launched in 2007." Procter & Gamble's Marc Pritchard, who also chairs the industry group, said of the new website, "What we want to do involves a simple objective -- become the consumer's best resource." And, presumably, counteract the damning information on the "Skin Deep" website, launched in 2005 by the Environmental Working Group and Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Nigeria is located on Africa's west coastFacing a massive lawsuit brought against it by the Nigerian government, cigarette maker British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) knows exactly what to do: roll out the Corporate Social Responsibility. Since Nigeria's federal government filed to seek reimbursement for 5.3 trillion Nigerian Naira (about US$ 43.5 billion) it has spent treating sick smokers, BATN has donated a fleet of Ford Ranger trucks to the Nigerian Customs Service, boasts that it has pumped $300 million into the local economy and that it has 1,000 "model farms" in tobacco-growing areas. As part of the puffery, BATN ran advertisements around Nigeria featuring a 98 year farmer old named Amos Adedigba praising BATN by saying, "Sixty years is a long time to maintain a relationship. I have been able to give my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren a good life, education and I am very proud of that." But when interviewed about the ad, Mr. Adedigba told Nigeria's The Nation newspaper, "BAT cheated me. I heard they used the advert all over Nigeria and even in America, yet I was only paid N40,000" (about US$328). Adedigba also alleged that the tobacco industry cheats farmers over the price of tobacco leaves. The Nation also reported that most Nigerian tobacco farmers actually live in squalor, and Nigerian public health advocate Seun Akioye states that BATN's claims of socially responsible farming are false, that tobacco farmers really live in "debt bondage" to tobacco companies, and that tobacco farming leaves soil unusable for growing food or other crops.