Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Burson-Marsteller's hiring of Lord Melchett, the former director of Greenpeace UK, prompted the Independent to examine the growing trend of British environmentalists "who have decided to work for the blue chip giants they once sought to humble ...
Submitted by John Stauber on
Burson-Marsteller's newest PR hire, Lord Peter Melchett, has been forced to resign from the board of Greenpeace International. Melchett blind-sided his fellow Greenpeace board members and eco-activists this week by taking a consulting job with one of the PR world's most notorious anti-environmental propaganda firms, Burson-Marsteller. Apparently Melchett has convinced himself that accepting a paying position with B-M will somehow help him change corporate behavior.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Catherine Bennet examines a "deal with the devil," asking "Has Lord Peter Melchett been genetically modified? ... And what other explanation can there possibly be for the decision of Lord Melchett, quondam destroyer of GM crops, to join Burson-Marsteller...? Anyone who believes Lord Melchett's insistence that there is nothing contradictory about his appointment ...fails to appreciate Burson-Marsteller's fabulous coup in signing him up. ...
Submitted by John Stauber on
A longtime Greenpeace activist sent the following comments to PR Watch: "The Lord Melchetts of the activist (and now corporate) world are only one symptom of a broader contagion. Is there even a real environmental movement anymore? How accountable are NGOs to their own base? ... Look how little is being accomplished in addressing Global Warming in the U.S. at a time when it's obviously a national security issue and a global security issue. I think this is in part because the environmental groups don't believe in mass movement building like they used to.
Submitted by John Stauber on
The Guardian Unlimited reports that "Lord Melchett, the former head of Greenpeace UK ... (has) taken a job at a PR company which has represented Monsanto and the European biotech industry. ...(T)he former Labour minister and farmer, who is on the board of Greenpeace International, is to become a consultant for Burson-Marsteller....
Submitted by Laura Miller on
PR colossus Fleishman-Hillard adds former President Clinton's Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to the firm's international advisory board. Kantor is a partner at Mayer, Brown and Platt law firm, where he advises clients on international corporate and financial transactions. He also serves as a senior advisor to Morgan Stanley and is a board member of Pharmacia, Monsanto, and Korea First Bank.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
PR trade publication O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports: "The Arab Intellectual Foundation plans a $2 million media drive to counter what it feels are the 'negative images' of Arabs and Islam that are presented in the Western press in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks." Saudi Prince Khalid Al-Faisal is the president of AIF. Arab businessmen have been asked to contribute money to the campaign which will "promote the Arab perspective on the war on terror."
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Incepta, the marketing and public relations firm, branched out into detective work with the purchase of the US-based Global Intelligence and Security. The management team at Global Intelligence, which carries out business intelligence and investigations, includes several former executives from Kroll Associates, one of the best-known private detective and investigations agencies in the world.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
PR pro Fraser Seitel has issued a list of the worst PR gaffes of 2001, with awards going to the now-defunct Extreme Football League, Sharon Stone, Bill Maher, and the Enron board of directors.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
While cockfighting is only legal in three states -- New Mexico, Louisiana, and Oklahoma -- interstate shipment of gamecocks is still allowed. However federal lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been trying to pass legislation that "could put breeders out of business and cramp cockfighting everywhere," according to the Wall Street Journal.
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