Public Relations

From Drug Czar to PR Star

Retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, the Clinton administration's drug czar, has now become a mind-altering substance himself. The PR firm of Fleishman-Hillard has hired him to head its new homeland security practice. "Homeland security" has turned into a gold rush for Washington lobbyists, lawyers and PR firms, with more than 444 lobby registrations declaring an interest in "terror" or "security."

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BP Oil's $200 Million Greenwashing Campaign

The New York Times examines BP/Amoco, the world's second largest oil company, and its $200 million PR and advertising campaign to greenwash its image. It is an "enormous corporate rebranding exercise, shortening its name from British Petroleum to BP, coining the slogan "Beyond Petroleum" and redesigning its corporate insignia. ... in came a green, yellow and white sunburst that seemed to suggest a warm and fuzzy feeling about the earth. ... But ...

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Beers' Pro-US PR Offensive Employs Writers & TV Show

"The Bush administration has recruited prominent American
writers ... in a campaign started after
9/11 to use culture to further American diplomatic
interests. ... The Smith-Mundt Act ... bars the domestic dissemination of official American
information aimed at foreign audiences. The
essays can, however, be read on a government Web site

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Saudi PR/Lobby Firms Dodging Congressional Subpoenas

O'Dwyer's reports that top PR and lobby firms for the Saudis are dodging subpoenas from the Congressional Committee on Government Reform. Says the O'Dwyer website (now only accessible by subscription, but well worth the fee), "Michael Petruzzello, head of Qorvis Communicatins and Jack Deschauer of Patton Boggs, were not found at their offices or homes by U.S. Marshals, according to The New York Sun. A lawyer for Jamie Gallagher of the Gallagher Group stalled Congressional staffers until too late in the day for agents to serve a subpoena, reports The New York Post.

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Congress Subpoenas Saudi Arabia PR Records

"The House Committee on Government Reform, which is investigating reports of American children kidnaped and held in Saudi Arabia, has issued subpoenas to the Kingdom's top lobbying firms Qorvis Communications, Patton Boggs and the Gallagher Group demanding they turn over their PR and lobbying records," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "The Saudi Embassy claims those documents are protected under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations as 'archives and documents of the mission.'" Committee head Rep.

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Food Industry Hires PR Help For Obesity Issue

"Edelman PR Worldwide and Dittus Communications have been tapped to spearhead PR and lobbying for the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition, a coalition of top food and beverage groups seeking to counter charges that the industry is at fault for a swelling obesity problem in the U.S.," O'Dwyer's PR Daily writes. "Formed earlier this year, the Council stresses that both physical activity and a proper diet are needed for a healthy lifestyle.

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PR/Ad Giants Are Spinning Drugs Into Gold

"Dentists leafing through The Journal of the American Dental
Association last May found a study concluding that a new
drug called Bextra offered relief from one of their
patients' worst nightmares - the acute pain that follows
dental surgery. Federal regulators had rejected that conclusion only six
months before, leaving Bextra's marketers, Pharmacia and
Pfizer, hard pressed to sell it as an advance over
Celebrex, their earlier entry in a crowded market for pain
drugs. The new study helped light a fire under Bextra. Its sales

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APCO Represents Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations hired APCO Worldwide to develop "positive U.S.-ASEAN ties." "President Bush has made establishing free trade agreements with each individual ASEAN nation a foreign policy priority," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "The U.S. Administration also counts on ASEAN support for its war on terrorism." Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Myanmar are ASEAN member countries.

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