Menthol cigarette ad targeting African AmericansThe National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN) has withdrawn its support for a bill allowing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. The legislation would ban spice, fruit and candy flavorings from cigarettes, but quietly exempted menthol flavoring from regulation. Legislators included the exemption to gain support for the bill from Philip Morris, the country's largest cigarette maker. Menthol cigarettes are disproportionately popular among African American smokers; 70 to 75 percent of this group smoke menthols compared to about 30 percent of the general smoking population. African Americans also suffer a disproportionately high share of smoking-related cancers. NAATPN executive director William S. Robinson said that instead of a reasonable explanation for why menthol was excluded from the bill, he received "weak and flimsy" excuses from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the health group that worked behind the scenes with Philip Morris to create the legislation.

For Richard A. Clarke, the former Bush administration security advisor whose tell-all book was denounced as a betrayal four years ago, the current White House attacks on former press secretary Scott McClellan are reminiscent of what he went through. "It's like an echo chamber," he told Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Ironically, the themes being voiced against McClellan are the same points that McClellan himself raised against Clarke in 2004. "I turned on the TV the other day and there were White House people saying he is a disgruntled ex-employee, that he is out of the loop," Clarke said. "I think there is a little box in the White House that says, 'If anybody escapes from the White House and tells the truth, break this box and take out these talking points...say he is a disgruntled employee, say it is an election year and he is trying to sell books.'" McClellan's public reversal is not winning him much slack from critics of the war. Jeff Cohen writes that McClellan may have "blood on his hands -- and that he hasn't earned any kind of redemption" but adds that he is "trying my best to enjoy this falling out among thieves and liars." McClatchy correspondents Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay write that they "find it a wee bit preposterous -- and we are being diplomatic here -- that a man who slavishly - no, robotically! -- defended President Bush's policies in Iraq and elsewhere is trying to 'set the record straight' (and sell a few books) five years and more after the invasion, with U.S. troops still bravely fighting and dying to stabilize that country."

Rachael Ray Dunkin Donuts ad featuring controversial scarfDunkin' Donuts pulled an online ad for frozen lattes featuring domestic maven Rachael Ray after receiving complaints from right-wing bloggers, including conservative FOX News commentator Michelle Malkin, that a black-and-white paisley scarf Ray wore in the ad too closely resembled a traditional Arab headdress called a kaffiyeh. Malkin wrote that the scarf resembled "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos," and that "the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons." Amahl Bishara, a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters about the Middle East said, "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East -- by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm ... To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it."

Former MSNBC correspondent Jessica Yellin admitted on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 last night that during the run-up to the war, "the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings." Appearing as part of a panel discussing Scott McClellan’s book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, Yellin alleged that "the higher the president’s approval ratings ... the more pressure I had from news executives to put on positive stories about the president." Hardball host Chris Matthews also admitted in a speech at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Monday that MSNBC bosses were "basically pro-war during the war." His remark came during a discussion of top-down editorial control at the network, which Matthews denied existed.

"The catastrophic earthquake that rocked China's Sichuan province has changed the entire tenor of the coming Olympics" -- and the shift is good for beleaguered Olympics sponsors. "Marketers such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung have had their Olympic efforts to date tarred by protesters" concerned with China's poor human rights record, especially in Tibet, and its support of the Sudanese government. But those issues have been overshadowed by the Sichuan earthquake, which killed more than 55,000 people. "Many of the top Olympic sponsors have been among the most generous and aggressive in responding to the Sichuan crisis," according to Advertising Age. "Coca-Cola donated more than $3 million and gave more than 5.7 million bottles of water. McDonald's served 17,000 meals daily to earthquake victims, relief workers" and others. Public relations consultant David Wolf explained that China is "a big market, and companies, if you want to look at it cynically, want to be seen as making a contribution. But many of the people ... are genuinely shocked by the images coming out of Sichuan and want to do everything they can."

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer "is preparing an advertising and public-relations campaign to counter concerns about its antismoking drug Chantix, once trumpeted as a potential billion-dollar-a-year blockbuster." So far, Pfizer has "run ads in five major newspapers in which its medical director explains Chantix's risk-benefit balance." The drug company will soon "start hosting round-table discussions on Chantix for members of the media." The Pfizer campaign comes after an independent study linked Chantix "to 988 serious side effects in the last quarter of 2007." According to Senator Charles Grassley, who has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the drug's safety, Chantix has had "more reports of serious adverse events in this country than any other prescription drug." Some of the side effects reported for Chantix aren't currently listed in the drug's warnings. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, which conducted the Chantix study, receives drug company funding, but not from Pfizer, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

As we have reported previously, Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs) -- has fallen out of favor with investors. On May 27, the company's stock closed at just 89 cents. "NASDAQ rules require companies to maintain a minimum closing bid of $1 per share. Failure to do so for 30 consecutive business days runs the risk of delisting," writes Tonya Garcia in PR Week. Medialink Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Torosian attributes the share price crash to the recent sale of 900,000 shares by Pequot Capital. However, the company's shares have been falling consistently over the last year, dropping by 75 percent since the beginning of 2008. At the end of March, Medialink announced that its board had approved a plan to purchase 150,000 of the company's own shares, in a bid to counter "recent volatility in the financial markets."

The WPP Group's online advertising firm Bridge Worldwide offers its clients what it calls "marketing with meaning." For ConAgra, the firm created the "Start Making Choices" website, which "conveys nutrition, exercise and other well-being tips from cardiologist James Rippe ... as it weaves in messages and sponsorship from the company's Healthy Choice, Eggbeaters, Hunt's, Orville Redenbacher and Pam brands." To promote Abbott Laboratories' Glucerna brand products for diabetics, Bridge created a "Diabetes Control for Life" program. The program website offers food and health tips, which Bridge says help "participants lose weight and have better blood-sugar management," while "Glucerna product consumption increases ninefold." Using a similar approach, Johnson & Johnson "has funded what it calls the world's largest database on children's sleep," which just happens to "point out to parents that giving their babies a bath before bedtime helps get them to sleep (which doesn't hurt the world's largest purveyor of baby bath soap)."

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) "has been leading an 'aggressive' public relations campaign ... in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year's energy bill," reports Anna Palmer. GMA "hired Glover Park Group to run a six-month campaign," after realizing that "rising food prices ... create a window to change perceptions about the benefits of bio-fuels." GMA "also expanded its lobbying contract with Dutko Worldwide." In March, GMA began searching for a PR firm to help it build "a global center-left coalition" against ethanol and hire "trusted third-party experts" who would link ethanol to global hunger and poverty. Glover Park's winning proposal to GMA suggested attacking "whatever intellectual justification might still exist for corn-based ethanol among policy elites," including through "third party research" shaped by the PR firm; launching a website; and possibly creating a "costumed 'mascot' ... to drawn attention and distribute advocacy materials at local supermarkets." U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of corn-rich Iowa, who strongly criticized the anti-ethanol PR campaign, posted GMA's "request for proposal" (PDF) and Glover Park's response (PDF) on his website.

After the New York Times revealed a secret research contract between Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Philip Morris earlier this month, Style Weekly, a Richmond, Virginia newspaper, investigated VCU President Eugene Trani's personal financial ties to the tobacco industry and concluded that "Trani is the tobacco industry." Style found that Trani receives an annual retainer of $40,000, including stock options, plus fees totaling $3,500 per year for serving on the board of directors of the Universal Corporation, a leading global supplier of tobacco leaf. University spokeswoman Pam Lepley said she didn't "see any connection" between Trani's getting paychecks from both the Universal Corporation and a university that operates a medical school and school of public health. Lepley added that Trani's being on the board of Universal Corporation "doesn't really pertain to the university."

Former G.W. Bush Administration White House Press Secretary Scott McClellanFormer White House press secretary Scott McClellan has published a new memoir titled What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception in which he writes that President Bush sold the Iraq war to Americans using a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war." McClellan, known during his time as press secretary as a staunch defender of Bush Administration policies and the war in Iraq, writes that Bush aides "had outlined a strategy for carefully orchestrating the coming campaign to aggressively sell the [Iraq] war ... it was all about manipulating sources of opinion to the president's advantage ..." McClellan also admits that he allowed himself to be deceived about the exposure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and suggests that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby may have worked behind the scenes to coordinate their stories about the Plame leak. The book's official release date is Monday, June 2.

In early April, the global oil company Chevron announced that it has entered into a five-year deal with the foundation created by the professional golfer, Tiger Woods. Woods proclaimed that "Chevron has a track record and a commitment to bettering the communities where they operate." Chevron's record, such as its partnership with the Burmese military dictatorship on the Yandana gas pipeline is "certainly nothing with which Woods should want his name attached," writes Dave Zirin in The Nation. Asked about Chevron's record, the president of the Tiger Woods Foundation, Greg McLaughlin, stated that its partners share its mission to help young people. "President McLaughlin should think more seriously about what Chevron is and what they do: they pollute, they destroy, they conspire with dictators, and heaven help anyone who gets in their way. Now they want to burnish their 'brand' by partnering with Tiger Woods," Zirin concluded.

On March 27, a coalition of Democratic House candidates and military experts unveiled the "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq." As one of the more solid commitments to end the war, it has generated a lot of buzz lately as more than 50 candidates have endorsed it. With the Iraq War as the foremost issue this season, an endorsement of the plan is a critical piece of information about a U.S. congressional candidate, so we need your help to add it to the profiles of candidates that make up Congresspedia's Wiki-the-Vote project. (If they haven't endorsed the plan, you can call attention to that as well.) No experience is necessary and full instructions for helping out can be found here. It's your democracy - participate!

Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) -- a coal and power industry front group -- is busy organizing opposition to America's Climate Security Act of 2007 proposed by Senators Joe Lieberman and John Warner. The Institute for Southern Studies (ISS) reports that Pete MacDowell, an activist with the NC (North Carolina) Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, received a phone call from ABEC asking if he would put his name to a fax to Lieberman and Warner opposing the bill. Asked whether ABEC was an environmental group, the caller said "yes" and denied it had any links to power utilities. In response to ISS's revelation, Steve Gates from ABEC's parent group, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, stated that "one new staff member -- who is no longer working on this project -- decided to 'wing it' when asked some questions that were off her script. This staff person clearly should have answered 'Yes' when asked if ABEC was related to the utility industry."

When a patient checks into a hospital or goes to see a doctor, they are typically handed a booklet called "Notice of Privacy Practices" and are asked to sign a document acknowledging that they received the information. Patients assume that these "privacy practices" are in place to protect their personal information and that doctors and hospitals will keep their information in strictest confidence. In reality, patients usually overlook fine print contained in these documents that say that hospitals can share their personal information and use it for fundraising purposes. Thus someone who checks into the hospital for a heart ailment can later be solicited to help pay for expensive new hospital equipment or a new diagnostic wing. Fundraising professionals call this "high touch direct mail," but others think gathering marketing information this way is disrespectful to patients. Dr. Steven Fugaro, an internist and president of the San Francisco Medical Society, says the practice raises ethical concerns. "When you go to Macy's or Wal-Mart or buy a car, it has come to be expected that your name will be used for commercial purposes. But ... people come to us because they are sick. They have an expectation that their names will be kept private, even the fact that they were treated by the doctor or a hospital." Most patients are unaware that health care privacy laws are being used to harvest marketing data.

Oilsands mining in Canada (Source: Sierra Club of Canada)The Alberta government has hired crisis management guru Peter Sandman to help it defuse concerns over the environmental impact of the oilsands mining industry. In April, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach sought to defend the discovery of 500 dead ducks found in a tailings pond. At a cost of C$35,000, Sandman spent two days advising Alberta Environment officials on how to "handle regular public meetings and controversies" over oil extraction. "It's not a secret that when you mine bitumen, it's pretty ugly. ... It's not shocking that tailings ponds occasionally kill ducks," Sandman said. Lindsay Telfer from the Sierra Club of Canada told the Calgary Herald that she wondered how Sandman's advice affects the government's "very specific attempts to greenwash the oilsands."

Pastor John Hagee endorses John McCain for President in March 2008Pastor John Hagee, the controversial Christian televangelist who last March endorsed Senator John McCain's nomination for Republican candidate for U.S. President, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis were doing God's will when they chased the Jews out of Europe in order to herd them into Israel, where they could establish a Jewish state. In an audio tape of the sermon revealed by Huffington Post, Hagee went in and out of biblical verse as he preached, "'And they the hunters should hunt them, that will be the Jews. From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks. If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can't see that." A Hagee spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the remarks, which can be found at around the 1:08 mark of his sermon titled "Battle for Jerusalem." Hagee later apologized for the remarks. But McCain, who had earlier sought Hagee's endorsement to improve his standing within the evangelical community, quickly distanced himself from the pastor, describing his comments as "crazy and unacceptable."

"Dishes targeted to health-conscious consumers at popular chains such as Chili's, Taco Bell and Applebee's contained as much as twice the calories and eight times the grams of fat than the restaurants claimed in their published nutrition information," reports Isaac Wolf, citing research done in eight cities by television stations affiliated with the Scripps media chain. The worst offender was the Macaroni Grill, a restaurant chain owned by Brinker International. Its "Pollo Margo Skinny Chicken" was supposed to have 500 calories but actually had 1,022, with 49 grams of fat rather than the promised 6. "People have a right to know what's in their food," said Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "How can you exercise personal responsibility and make an informed choice if you don't have basic information?"

It isn't every day that a state's largest polluter is honored. It helps when the polluter -- and its buddies -- helped found and advise the group giving the award. The Maryland-based Wildlife Habitat Council gave biodiversity conservation awards to 21 companies, including the Lafarge cement plant in Ravena, New York. The award was for Lafarge's 150-acre Deer Mountain Nature Preserve. The honor was not publicized until the company came under fire for mercury contamination near a local high school. Federal reports show that the plant in question was New York state's largest mercury emitter for three years running. Environmentalists smell a case of greenwashing. "At first I thought it was a joke. Then I was astonished and horrified," said an analyst with the New York Public Interest Research Group. Joining Lafarge on the Wildlife Habitat Council's board of directors are representatives from Monsanto, Exxon Mobil, DuPont, ConocoPhillips and Waste Management. The conservation group Ducks Unlimited, which is funded by Exxon Mobil and Anheuser-Busch, also holds a seat. The Council gave "Signatures of Sustainability" awards to DuPont and Anheuser-Busch, both of which had a role in founding the group.

PR firm Susan Davis International (SDI) has retained its contract with the U.S. Department of Defense's America Supports You campaign. The one year contract is good for up to $3 million. "The long-running campaign aims to communicate public support of the military to service members and their families. Among SDI’s assignments are developing a national media strategy, partnerships with businesses, celebrities and other entities, PSAs, internal communications, events, and a 'robust' web and interactive campaign." Some claim the bid process heavily favored SDI, but that's not the only controversy. As CMD reported previously, the Pentagon is investigating SDI's work on America Supports You, including unusual financial arrangements with the military newspaper Stars & Stripes. The paper recently reported that "a former attorney for the Pentagon's news bureau, the American Forces Information Service, has alleged 'serious misconduct' by Pentagon and S&S officials," including Allison Barber, who "is a friend of Susan Davis, and awarded the six-figure PR pact without a competitive process."

As CMD previously reported, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) operates a School of Medicine and a School of Public Health while enjoying a cozy relationship with the tobacco industry, especially cigarette maker Philip Morris (PM). Now the New York Times reports that in 2006, VCU entered into a secret and extraordinarily restrictive research contract with PM that bars researchers from publishing, or even talking about, study results without first getting approval from PM. If news organizations ask about the contract, university officials are supposed to decline to comment and tell PM about the inquiry. All patents and other intellectual property created under the contract go to PM. The contract violates VCU guidelines for industry-sponsored research, which state "University faculty and students must be free to publish their results." David Rosner, a professor of public health and history at Columbia University in New York, says VCU's contract is "counter to the entire purpose and rationale of a university." VCU President Eugene Trani, who refused to be interviewed for the Times article, owns 6,250 shares of common stock in the Universal Leaf Corporation and sits on their Board of Directors.

Comprehensive information about what chemicals are sprayed on food crops just got much harder to come by. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that they will no longer conduct and publish annual national surveys of "which states apply the most pesticides and where bug and weed killers are most heavily sprayed to help cotton, grapes and oranges grow." The report is used extensively by farmers, environmental advocates, chemical companies and even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Don Lipton, a spokesman for the American Farm Bureau, said "farmers will be subjected to conjecture and allegations about their use of chemicals and fertilizer. Given the historic concern about chemical use by consumers, regulators, activist groups and farmers, it's probably not an area where lack of data is a good idea." One fear is that information will only be available after there's been a problem. Steve Scholl-Buckwald of the Pesticide Action Network explained, "What we'll end up doing is understanding pesticide use through getting accident reports. And that's a lousy way to protect public health."

Aerial view of Yucca MountainIncreasingly, people are coming to the conclusion that the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, Nevada might never open. Former Louisiana Senator J. Bennett Johnston, "the lawmaker perhaps most responsible" for advancing the plan for a permanent waste repository at Yucca, now says the "project should never have been billed as a place to hold waste indefinitely," reports Lisa Mascaro. Johnston admitted, "You can't absolutely prove with certainty what's going to happen in 10,000 or 100,000 years." The U.S. Department of Energy will soon "deliver its long-awaited application to license the site." The department currently projects "that Yucca could start accepting waste by 2020." Meanwhile, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) industry group "has been quietly chatting with small, primarily rural communities to gauge their interest in hosting a temporary waste facility." Neither NEI nor Johnston "will admit that Yucca Mountain is dead ... but they would like to have a backup plan." For more on NEI, see CMD senior researcher Diane Farsetta's article in the June 2008 issue of The Progressive magazine, "Meet the Nuclear Power Lobby."

Senator Joe Lieberman has penned a letter to Google, asking them to ban content on YouTube that is produced by organizations considered to be terrorist, such as Al Qaeda. Lieberman asserts that Islamic terrorist groups are using YouTube to "'disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers and provide weapons training.' His Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has found Al-Qaeda branded videos on YouTube documenting 'horrific attacks on American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan.'" Lieberman adds that the videos play a "significant role in the process of radicalization, the end point of which is the planning and execution of a terrorist attack." Google responded that while it understands Lieberman's concerns and has removed some egregious videos, they seek a balance that "encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view."

"AngryRenter.com looks a bit like a digital ransom note, with irregular fonts, exclamation points and big red arrows -- all emphasizing prudent renters' outrage over a proposed government bailout for irresponsible homeowners," writes Michael M. Phillips. In fact, however, "the people behind AngryRenter.com are certainly not renters. Though it purports to be a spontaneous uprising, AngryRenter.com is actually a product of an inside-the-Beltway conservative advocacy organization led by Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, and publishing magnate Steve Forbes, a fellow Republican. It's a fake grass-roots effort -- what politicos call an AstroTurf campaign -- that provides a window into the sleight-of-hand ways of Washington."

Larry Moskowitz

The first quarter report of 2008 by Medialink Worldwide -- the largest producer of fake news products such as video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs) -- makes for grim reading for investors. The company reports that revenues from "media communications services" dropped by 18% overall, with a 9.2% drop in the U.S. and 41.6% internationally. Medialink's President and CEO, Larry Moskowitz attributes the slump to "the overall economic downturn in the first quarter of 2008." Many investors are aren't waiting for the company's fortunes to improve and are voting with their feet. Since the start of 2008, the company's share price has dropped by over 72%.

Charlie Black, the chief campaign adviser for Republican Party Presidential aspirant John McCain, has dismissed calls that he should resign due to his many years of lobbying work for BKSH & Associates, calling the calls "complete inside-the-beltway nonsense." MoveOn recently launched an advertisement demanding McCain fire Black. "John McCain's chief adviser, lobbyist Charlie Black, worked for some of the world's worst dictators -- mass murderers, terrorists, and tyrants. Call McCain and tell him to fire Charlie Black," the group's website states. Black defended working for dictators -- including Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire -- insisting that he never worked for foreign clients "without first talking to the State Department and the White House and clearing with them that the work would be in the interest of U.S. foreign policy."

According to the Nielsen Company, product placements on broadcast television increased 39 percent during the first quarter of 2008. All told, there were 117,976 brand occurrences on cable and broadcast networks in the first three months of the year. The show with the most product placements was NBC's "The Biggest Loser," followed by "American Idol" on Fox, "The Apprentice" on NBC, "Deal or No Deal" on NBC, and "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" on ABC. On cable television, the leaders were "American Chopper," "Project Runway," "L.A. Ink," "Real World Road Rules Challenge," and "Making The Band 4."

On the heels of last month's New York Times investigative report exposing the hidden relationship between media military analysts and the Pentagon and defense industries, Media Matters for America has documented more than 4,500 media appearances by the Pentagon pundits on ABC, ABC News Now, CBS, CBS Radio Network, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News, and NPR. "In the face of such damning evidence, the silence of those in the media who hosted or quoted these military analysts more than 4,500 times reeks of irresponsible journalism," said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters. "Because the media have failed to follow up on this story with the tough questions one would expect, members of Congress have been forced to act. It's time for the media to step up and do their job." One reporter answering the call is Alyssa Rosenberg at The New Republic, who is reviewing the 8,000 pages of Department of Defense documents obtained by the Times to produce a series of "DOD Document Dumps." Reading through the documents, she writes, is "like paging through a flip book from hell. Anyone who has watched cable news for more than five minutes over the past few years won't be shocked to find that the Bush administration used self-serving talking points to promote the war. But browsing through years of spin all at once, the thing that strikes me most is that anyone actually fell for the clunky attempts at minting catch-phrases and laughably convoluted logic the military and its mouthpieces were peddling."

New York Times reporter Melody Petersen, who covered the pharmaceutical industry for four years, has now published a book titled Our Daily Meds: How the pharmaceutical companies transformed themselves into slick marketing machines and hooked the nation on prescription drugs. In her book, Petersen refutes the commonly-held notion that drug companies plow their profits back into research to develop life-saving drugs, and concludes instead that drug companies primarily put their profits into influencing medical science and marketing drugs. Petersen writes, "With their hoards of cash, the companies have readily handed money to patient groups, hospitals, universities, physician societies, government agencies and just about any organization they want on their side. ... The industry's cash-filled coffers have given it a stranglehold on medical science." Petersen also exposes the problems with direct-to-consumer advertising and the drug industry's portrayal of common conditions, like anxiety and urinary frequency, as illnesses, as a way to convince people they need medication.

CMD research director Sheldon Rampton gave a talk recently to employees at Google, titled "The Wires that Control the Public Mind." The talk, part of Google's "tech talk" series, described the history of the public relations industry, dating back to the early 20th century and the work of PR industry founder Edward Bernays. Sheldon is the co-author (with John Stauber) of six books written for CMD, and he is the father of CMD's SourceWatch website which he conceptualized and launched in 2003 and which today is the most successful 'wiki' encyclopedia dedicated soley to public affairs, politics, and accurate, fair information about the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. You can view the presentation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUY9ahSCMG0

As CMD has reported previously, the infant formula industry in the U.S. is committed to making sure that women aren't, as they put it, made to feel guilty about not breast feeding. But it seems that formula producers are also looking to make inroads in Europe, where rates of breast feeding are far higher than in the U.S. The Independent "has uncovered strong ties between Nestle, the world's largest baby milk manufacturer, and the Department of Health. Rosie Cooper, a parliamentary private secretary to the Health minister Ben Bradshaw, is undergoing a year-long Industry and Parliament Trust fellowship with Nestle, and in February went for a week to South Africa as a guest of the group to oversee its corporate social responsibility activities." Three other Labor Party members of Parliament accompanied her at Nestle's expense. Critics are alarmed that the corporation has made such inroads into the government. A spokesperson for Baby Milk Action, which together with UNICEF, Save the Children and the National Childhood Trust, has organized a boycott of Nestle, said "Time and again we see Nestle trying to ingratiate itself with health workers and policymakers through gifts, free trips, sponsorship and so-called partnerships. Surely the Government should not look to companies to fund and organise trips such as this."

Former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, has called in the founder of of the U.K-based PR firm, Bell Pottinger, Tim Bell, to help rebuild his image. Shinawatra, who bought the Manchester City soccer club last year, has infuriated supporters, players and board members by signaling his intent to dump the popular club manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson. Players recently canvassed the possibility of boycotting a promotional tour of Thailand. PR Week reports that Shinawatra relied on a PR campaign to help puff his image when he first bought the club. "Many fans were won over earlier this season by a dizzying round of star signings and Shinawatra clips on You-Tube, including one of him attempting to sing Blue Moon. Shinawatra was soon known as 'Frank Sinatra' by the City fans, a name conjured up by the PR team to soften his image," David Quainton reports.

Charter Communications, one of the largest Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the U.S., recently sent letters to some of its 2.7 million customers with details of a new initiative. "Charter is billing its new web tracking program as an 'enhancement' for customers' web surfing experience. ... The pilot program is set to begin next month. 'Browsing the web can become more like flipping through your favorite magazine, where you see ads that are appealing to you and enhance your enjoyment and the utility of the experience,' the company's letters read." Charter says that it is piloting the program in four of its markets: Ft. Worth, Texas; San Luis Obispo, California; Oxford, Massachusetts, and Newtown, Connecticut. The "enhancement" will be difficult to refuse. "Users can opt out of the system, but have to give their full name and address to get an opt-out cookie. The process would have to be repeated for every browser on every computer in a home to block the service, and would have to be reset if cookies are ever deleted." Wired's Ryan Singel says the plan "effectively turns the ISP into the ultimate third-party tracking network." Charter's plan is similar to one developed in the U.K. by Phorm, "a London company with alleged spyware roots." But consumer outrage in Britain has prevented any ISPs from putting it in place.

On June 6, limos will be lined up, the red carpet will be rolled out, and decked out attendees will have their photos snapped by swarming paparazzi. But this isn't your usual Hollywood awards ceremony. Instead, it is the 4th annual Fame & Shame Awards, sponsored by the New Mexico Media Literacy Project and New Mexico Voices for Children in collaboration with the Smoke Free Movies Campaign. The "fame" part of the ceremony will recognize New Mexico teens that are working to encourage their peers to not start smoking, or to quit if they have. They are vying for the Youth Kicking Tobacco's Butt Advocate of the Year Award. The "shame" segment targets the entertainment industry. "The ceremony also hands out 'Shamie Awards' to actors, actresses, directors and producers who glamorize smoking in Hollywood movies. This year's nominees include Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Jamie Foxx as Actor Who Glamorizes Smoking the Most, Beyonce and Emma Thompson as Actress Who Glamorizes Smoking the Most, and Hairspray, Ocean's Thirteen and Wild Hogs (shot in New Mexico) as Most Popular Teen Movie That Glamorizes Smoking."

Mt. McKinley: one big mistake.Colorado Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bob Schaffer proclaims his devotion to the state in his latest television ad, saying "Colorado is my life ... I proposed to Maureen on top of Pike's Peak ... " Problem was, the mountain featured in the ad was Mount McKinley in Alaska, not the famous Pikes Peak in Colorado. The spot ran in the two most conservative areas of the state, but the error was caught quickly by people, including Schaeffer's Democratic challenger Mark Udall, who recognized the incorrect peak. Schaffer's campaign manager said the spot would be re-edited to replace Mt. McKinley with Colorado mountains, and would start running again almost immediately.

Some U.S. Congresspeople want to limit direct to consumer marketing of drugs. Rep. Bart Stupak is head of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce investigative panel. At a hearing to discuss specific ads by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Schering-Plough, Stupak said that "It appears that we need to enforce significant restrictions on DTC (direct-to-consumer) ads to protect American consumers from manipulative commercials designed to mislead and deceive for the profit of pharmaceutical companies." Referring to the fact that other than New Zealand, the U.S. is the only country to allow direct to consumer advertising of drugs he added, "Pharmaceutical companies should consider it a privilege to be allowed to air DTC ads in this country. We should make sure that pharmaceuticals companies conduct themselves responsibly." The ranking Republican on the committee, John Shimkus of Illinois, said that since the Food and Drug Administration was just recently given oversight of drug ads, it is too soon for congressional intervention. But as CMD has reported previously, there is significant concern as to whether the FDA and other government agencies are able and willing to stand up to industry and government pressure.

The proposed Food and Drug Administration tobacco bill currently under consideration would ban artificial flavors like cinnamon and cherry from cigarettes, but strangely gives special protection to menthol. Public health advocates wonder why menthol has been exempted from the bill, especially when it masks the harsh taste of cigarettes for beginners. A 2006 study also showed that menthol makes it harder for addicted smokers to quit. Menthol brands are also disproportionately popular among African Americans; seventy percent of blacks smoke menthols, compared to only 30 percent of whites. While African Americans smoke less than whites overall, they suffer higher rates of cancer and other tobacco-induced diseases. Despite all this, legislators believe that menthol cannot be eliminated as a cigarette flavoring under the bill because menthol is crucial to the $70 billion cigarette market. It is of particular importance to Philip Morris, which has been planning for, and driving FDA regulation of cigarettes since 1999. The watered-down terms resulted from legislators' belief that the bill won't pass without PM's buy-in.

Faced with a national outcry over the high price of gasoline and soaring profits for energy companies, the American Petroleum Institute has launched a multimillion-dollar PR and advertising campaign to convince the public that "rising energy prices are not the producers' fault and that government efforts to punish the industry, especially with higher taxes, would only make pricing problems worse," reports Jeffrey H. Birnbaum. Consumer groups such as the Consumer Federation of America are complaining that the industry "is using its outlandish profits to make even more money, and that its advertisements use statistics selectively."

Adweek has an interesting article examining environmental corporate social responsibility in light of the latest consumer survey data designed to help companies profit from green marketing. They caution corporations to "realize they're swimming against a turbid current of anti-corporate sentiment. ... This is the backdrop against which greenwashing has become a household word among eco-activists. And it threatens to become part of ordinary consumers' vocabulary as well. ... When you learn that a brand you use" is greenwashing, "it's like getting a holiday card that says a donation has been made in your name to a cause you dislike." On the other hand, a new TNS survey finds what some might call a 'bitter' market segment who do "not respond well to green messaging." These so-called Eco Villiains are "predominantly Midwestern, middle-income family-men in small to mid-sized metro areas. Eco Villains do not believe in global warming, disdain eco-conscious pr