Public Relations

Our Country Deserves Better: The Russo Marsh Crowd Bashes Obama from Coast to Coast

by Diane Farsetta — October 28, 2008 - 5:32pm
  • Topics: Election 2008, Public Relations, Rhetoric

    • "Barack and socialism? No, our country deserves better," implored Mark Williams.

    It was only a few minutes into the October 22 rally staged by Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee (PAC) formed to oppose the Democratic presidential candidate. But Williams, a conservative talk radio host from California, was just getting warmed up.

    "Barack Obama represents people who are ashamed of this great country, who believe that this great country is the evil in the world and that, in their revisionist history, they cast us as the villain," Williams claimed. "And if we dare question them ... like Joe the Plumber: 'Mr. Obama, what are you going to do to my taxes?' That was enough for the dogs who support the ideological left to go after Joe the Plumber and shred him. ... There's no such thing as sacred, among the unholy left. They vilify this nation, and they vilify those of us who support it. ... [It's] the same kind of thuggery of the left that's used by totalitarian regimes around the world to silence opposition."

    Towards the end of the rally, Williams invoked a long-discredited smear against Obama that seems designed to play on fears of his "otherness": that he's not really a U.S. citizen. "We all know that Barack Obama is not qualified to be president of the United States, beyond being above the age of 35 and probably an American citizen," said Williams, emphasizing the word "probably." He laughed and then repeated: "Probably. Even money."

    Unlike his hypothetical conservatives cowed by leftist thugs, Williams will not be silenced.

    Second UK Consultation on Nuclear Power Also a Sham

    by Diane Farsetta — October 22, 2008 - 4:15pm

    The British government's second public consultation on nuclear power, "which was run by a company linked to the Prime Minister's personal pollster," has been criticized for material that was "inaccurately or misleadingly presented." In response to a complaint from the environmental group Greenpeace, Britain's Market Research Standards Board ruled that the Opinion Leader firm presented

    Main Source: 
    The Independent (UK), October 18, 2008

    DCI Group's Stealth Campaign Torpedoed Freddie Mac Reform

    by John Stauber — October 20, 2008 - 8:16am

    Pete Yost reports that "Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, October 20, 2008

    And Now, for the PR Bailout

    by Diane Farsetta — October 16, 2008 - 12:59pm

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission "has bolstered its PR staff after the agency and its chair Christopher Cox have been criticized" over the current financial crisis, reports O'Dwyer's. Riding to the SEC's assistance are Erik Hotmire and Andrew Weinstein.

    Main Source: 
    O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), October 16, 2008

    PR Consultant Gave Palin a Boost into the National Spotlight

    by Anne Landman — October 10, 2008 - 1:26pm

    Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's meteoric rise to prominence on the national political scene after only 21 months in office came about with the help of a media relations and marketing consulting firm hired to draw national attention to the state's proposed natural gas pipeline project.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, October 10, 2008

    FDA Tries to Pay Qorvis $300K Under the Table

    by Diane Farsetta — October 2, 2008 - 2:07pm

    After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was "pummeled by Congress for poor inspections of tainted vegetables, drugs and other products," the agency wanted public relations help. First, it hired Mildred Cooper as "a temporary FDA consultant ... on a two-year contract to advise FDA Commissioner Andrew C.

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, October 2, 2008

    Hill & Knowlton Engages "Influencers" for the IMF

    by Diane Farsetta — September 29, 2008 - 2:19pm

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained the major public relations firm Hill & Knowlton for one year, to boost the international financial institution's "global outreach." H&K's press release quotes CEO Paul Taaffe as saying, "The IMF plays a crucial role around the world working to stabilize financial markets.

    Main Source: 
    Hill & Knowlton press release, September 22, 2008

    A Veneer of Health

    by Judith Siers-Poisson — September 24, 2008 - 3:15pm

    The Burson-Marsteller PR firm did pro bono communications and media relations support for America's Health Care at Risk: Finding a Cure, which is billed as "a bi-partisan conference bringing together major stakeholders in the health care debate for a high-level dialogue aimed at generating real and lasting solutions." While organizers of the conference were thrilled to have the free help, they may have been wise to check on B-M's health credentials.

    Main Source: 
    Bulldog Reporter Daily 'Dog, September 17, 2008

    Stealth Marketers Gone Wild: Will the FCC Act?

    by Diane Farsetta — September 23, 2008 - 2:21pm
  • Topics: Journalism, Children, Fake TV News, Marketing, Public Relations, U.S. Government

    • One of my favorite critiques of our ad-saturated modern world is in "Infinite Jest," the epic novel by recently-departed author and essayist David Foster Wallace. In the novel's not-too-distant future, time itself has become a corporate marketing opportunity. There's the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar and the Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment. That's not to mention the Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade For Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems For Home, Office, Or Mobile, which is often abbreviated.

    The novel's system of Subsidized Time is hilarious ... and you can almost imagine it really happening. At least corporate-sponsored years wouldn't present the disclosure problems of today's stealth ads -- marketing messages that masquerade as entertainment or news content.

    The Center for Media and Democracy believes that all advertising should be as clearly announced as the Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar. That's why we just filed a comment with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC is debating how its sponsorship identification rules apply to product placement, product integration and other types of "embedded advertising" relayed over television or radio stations.

    In 2003, Commercial Alert urged the FCC to address product placement disclosure. "Advertisers can puff and tout, and use all the many tricks of their trade," the watchdog group wrote (pdf). "But they must not pretend that their ads are something else."

    Especially, we would add, when that "something else" is news programming.

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