Issue Management

Exxon's Decides It Has An 'Image' Problem

by Bob Burton — January 17, 2007 - 12:19am

In a briefing to a group of Wall Street fund managers, Exxon Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson reportedly stated "we recognise that we need to soften our public image.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), January 9, 2007

Wal-Mart's Believe It or Not: 90 Percent of Workers Have Health Insurance

by Jonathan Rosenblum — January 16, 2007 - 12:57pm

Wal-Mart had already announced an attempt to rewrite its public image through the hire of ex-political operatives and creation of a social responsibility ad campaign. The company has now released an internal study claiming that the overwhelming majority (90 percent) of its workers have health coverage--just not Wal-Mart's health coverage.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, January 11, 2006

Moore's Mission: Save Entergy's Nukes

by Bob Burton — January 13, 2007 - 2:58pm

One-time Greenpeace activist turned corporate PR consultant, Patrick Moore, has been hired by a Vermont group called Vermont Energy Partnership to help win a

Main Source: 
Reformer (Vermont), January 11, 2007

Philip Morris’s Project Sunrise: Wake Up and Smell the Efforts to Undermine Public Health

by Anne Landman — January 10, 2007 - 7:24pm

An article published in the medical journal Tobacco Control reveals Philip Morris' "Project Sunrise" (1995-2006), a long-term plan to bolster the social acceptability of smoking and ensure the company's future.

Main Source: 
Tobacco Control, Issue 15

Industry-Funded Studies Say Drink Up (Their Stuff)

by Jonathan Rosenblum — January 9, 2007 - 1:28pm

Studies of the health benefits of beverages are four to eight times more likely to support the studied drink if industry fully paid for the research than if it didn't, according to a newly-published article in the science journal PLoS Medicine. The study reviewed 206 journal articles that drew conclusions about the health effects of a beverage. About half of those revealed their funding sources.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, January 8, 2007

A Letter Writer's Imagination

by Bob Burton — December 14, 2006 - 5:16am

A doctor who featured in the PR plans of the drug company GlaxoSmithKline has been appointed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to a committee reviewing possible links between anti-depressant drugs and suicidality. In December 2004, internal GlaxoSmithKline documents revealed that Dr.

Main Source: 
BioEthics, December 12, 2006

It's Flacks v. Flacks Over Junk Food Marketing "Reform"

by Jonathan Rosenblum — December 5, 2006 - 3:59pm

"This was spin, and [the food industry] will have to get beyond that and make real changes or they'll get beat up again very soon." Perhaps a line from a nutritionist slamming the Better Business Bureaus' weak new voluntary restrictions on junk food marketing to kids? Instead, it's the president of MGP & Associates Public Relations, Mike Paul.

Main Source: 
Advertising Age, November 20, 2006

Implant Flacks

by Bob Burton — November 23, 2006 - 5:55am

On November 17 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved silicone breast implants manufactured by Mentor Corporation and Allergan. PR Week reports that the PR firm MS&L "began working with Inamed Corp.

Main Source: 
PR Week (sub req'd), November 21, 2006

Drug Industry's Glory Days May Be Over

by Bob Burton — November 22, 2006 - 4:24am

The drug industry is bracing itself for major legislative changes once the new Congress sits. Forbes journalist Matthew Herper notes that, following the mid-term elections, major drug company shares have dropped by over 5%.

Main Source: 
Forbes November 16, 2006

Oiling The Wheels For the New Congress

by Bob Burton — November 20, 2006 - 3:46am

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is planning to launch a major "educational advocacy" program in January 2007 to influence the incoming Congress. The API represents 400 major oil and gas producers. According to PR Week, the program will include increased television advertising, speeches by economists and industry executives and tours of oil and gas operations for think tank staff and politicians.

Main Source: 
PR Week (sub req'd), November 16, 2006
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