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Audit Reveals the PR Machine Behind Canadian Global Warming Skeptics

by Bob Burton — April 21, 2008 - 2:04am

An audit review (pdf) of over $507,000 (Canadian) contributed to two University of Calgary "research accounts" has revealed that C$123,427 was routed to Friends of Science (FoS) -- a group lobbying the Canadian government against taking action on global warming.

Main Source: 
University of Calgary, April 14, 2008

A Defense of Even Faker News

by Diane Farsetta — April 16, 2008 - 3:26pm

Reed Pence of MediaTracks Communications wants his fellow public relations professionals to know there's nothing wrong with "guaranteed placement" -- paying to have radio or television stations air fake news. "Many PR pros face the challenge of acquiring coverage for a product that isn't newsworthy," he writes in a letter to PR Week. "Some believe that [guaranteed placement] is just advertising," but it's not, he claims.

Main Source: 
PR Week letters, April 14, 2008

State Legislators Have a Telecom Front Group's Number

by Diane Farsetta — April 16, 2008 - 1:25pm

"Mywireless.org," a group that's "working hard to kill a cell phone reform bill at the Minnesota legislature," describes itself as "a non-profit consumer advocacy organization" formed to protect cell phone users' "freedom, value, security and mobility." But it's "staffed almost entirely by telecommunications industry executives, drawn mainly from the ranks of the

Main Source: 
Minnesota Monitor, April 11, 2008

The Pro-Junk Mail Lobby: Fighting to Sustain the Unsustainable?

by Anne Landman — April 9, 2008 - 5:31pm
  • Topics: Advertising, Corporate Campaigns, Front Groups, Third Party Technique, Corporations, Environment, Ethics, Marketing

    • Junk mail kills trees, clogs mailboxes, packs landfills, wastes natural resources, and everyone would be glad to be rid of it. Right?

    Well, maybe not.

    Whether out of environmental concern or sheer annoyance, legislated efforts to reduce junk mail are on the rise, but companies that have vested interests in its continuance have started organizing to save it--in a big way. Of course, they don't call it junk mail. Their preferred euphemisms are "advertising mail," "direct mail" or even "standard mail."

    Penn's Paycheck

    by Sheldon Rampton — April 9, 2008 - 12:05am

    For Mark Penn, who recently resigned as Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist, the campaign "has been about as effective an economic stimulus program for himself as anything his clients have ever proposed for the nation," reports Mike Madden.

    Main Source: 
    Salon.com, April 8, 2008

    Lawsuits, Light Cigarettes and Fear-Based Marketing Strategies

    by Anne Landman — April 8, 2008 - 12:38pm
  • Topics: Advertising, Corporate Campaigns, Corporate Social Responsibility, Education, Ethics, Health, Human Rights, International, Public Relations, Science, Social Justice, Tobacco

    • The Second Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals missed a great opportunity this week to hold the tobacco industry accountable for one of its worst marketing tactics -- positioning cigarette brands in response to smokers' medical concerns. The April 7, 2008, issue of the New York Times has an article about the dismissal of a huge, class-action lawsuit against the tobacco industry that was brought by smokers of "light" cigarettes who claimed they were misled about the relative safety of "light" cigarettes compared to regular, "full flavor" cigarettes. The suit, and its dismissal by the court, brought to mind a little-recognized tobacco industry marketing survival tactic that weighs heavily on the public's perception of exactly what "light" means.

    The tobacco industry has long had a remarkable ability to rescue itself from damaging health claims by turning allegations against its products into marketing opportunities. Inside the industry, the fact that cigarettes cause widespread illness and death is referred to as the "smoking and health" issue, or "S&H issue" for short. Tobacco marketers consider "S&H issues" to be little more than "external marketing forces" that require re-positioning of products, through changes in advertising copy strategy, so that smokers will get an illusion of safety from the dangers they perceive.

    New Participatory Project: Maximum Weirdness: Tobacco Industry Brainstorming Documents

    by Anne Landman — April 7, 2008 - 2:25pm

    A rock cocaine cigarette filter? A cigarette that delivers birth control and sexual stimulant drugs to the smoker at the same time? A geriatric brand? All of these are actual ideas for new products and promotions that were recorded at cigarette company "brainstorming" meetings.

    Main Source: 
    Tobaccowiki.org, April 7, 2008

    Glover Park Group Fights for (and Against) Climate Protection

    by John Stauber — March 31, 2008 - 5:30pm

    "Former vice president Al Gore (through his Alliance for Climate Protection) will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history. ...

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, March 31, 2008
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