Jamming Citigroup's PR Message

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In mid-April, Citigroup launched a $100 million global ad campaign titled "This is Citigroup." Using images of elderly people, and people from Hong Kong to Brazil, the ads portray a caring bank, committed to local communities. But the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), which has waged a boycott against Citigroup for the past two years, says the bank completely ignores environmental and social concerns and is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. RAN recently launched a counter campaign featuring photos that document destructive Citigroup-funded projects. "The new ad campaign is so out of touch with reality that Rainforest Action Network is concerned that critical levels of psychological denial have taken hold of the executive suite," states a RAN news release. According to RAN's Ilyse Hogue, "The new ad campaign almost seems like a cry for help. It's such a violation of truth in advertising that we felt we had no choice but to intervene."