Public Relations

Guerrilla Marketing Gone Bad in Boston

by Diane Farsetta — February 2, 2007 - 12:53pm

Turner Broadcasting apologized "for a marketing campaign that sparked Boston's biggest security scare since the September 11, 2001, attacks -- closing bridges, shutting major roads and putting hundreds of police on alert." The "outdoor marketing campaign" promoting an Adult Swim cartoon "had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia." Boston police feared that the magnetic lightboards of cartoon characters might be bombs.

Main Source: 
Reuters, January 31, 2007

An Army of Thousands More: How PR Firms and Major Media Help Military Recruiters

by Diane Farsetta — January 31, 2007 - 7:10pm
  • Topics: Media, Public Relations, Race / Ethnic Issues, U.S. Government, War / Peace, Women

    • Increasing "the ranks of our military" is "one of the first steps we can take together" to "position America to meet every challenge that confronts us," said President Bush in last week's State of the Union address. "Tonight I ask the Congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 in the next five years."

    The 92,000 figure was put forward by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who told the Senate Armed Services Committee on January 12 that more troops are needed to boost "combat capability" and "strengthen our military for the long war against terrorism." The Pentagon plans to meet that goal by reenlisting former Marines and increasing the Army's recruitment and retention rates.

    Under the plan, the Army would only "slightly increase its recruitment goals -- by 2,000 to 3,000" a year, according to UPI. But in 2005, "the Army failed to meet its annual recruiting goal by the widest margin in two decades," reported the New York Times. To meet its 2006 goal, the Army hired more recruiters, raised the maximum allowable age for recruits, doubled the percentage of recruits who scored low on aptitude tests, issued waivers for some recruits' prior convictions, and significantly increased cash bonuses.

    If it was that difficult for the Army to meet past recruiting goals, how will it meet future, larger ones? Some clues are offered in the Army's self-nomination for a prestigious public relations award.

    PR Execs Sentenced in Los Angeles Fraud

    by Diane Farsetta — January 31, 2007 - 11:10am

    The case of PR firm Fleishman-Hillard overcharging the city of Los Angeles for consulting services continues. Two former executives at the firm's Los Angeles office, Douglas Dowie and John Stodder, were sentenced to 42 months and 15 months in federal prison, respectively.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2007

    UK Gov't Seeks to ID Flack for IDs

    by Bob Burton — January 24, 2007 - 8:57pm

    The British government is looking to recruit a senior PR professional to help sell the controversial UK National Identity Cards Scheme. The yet-to-be appointed Director of Marketing and Communications will will help oversee the roll-out of the ID cards, which are scheduled to be introduced in 2009.

    Main Source: 
    PR Week (sub req'd), January 17, 2007

    U.S. PR Firms Help Thailand's Deposed Prime Minister

    by Bob Burton — January 24, 2007 - 8:51pm

    The public relations company Edelman has confirmed that its Washington and Hong Kong offices are handling media relations for the deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. A September 2006 military coup saw Thaksin, a controversial media mogul and politician, toppled from power while he was in New York.

    Main Source: 
    PR Week (sub req'd), January 19, 2007

    Dezenhall Tells Publishers: Openness is Censorship

    by Diane Farsetta — January 24, 2007 - 6:41pm

    "A group of big scientific publishers has hired" aggressive public relations executive Eric Dezenhall "to take on the free-information movement," reports Jim Giles. "Some traditional journals, which depend on subscription charges, say that open-access journals and public databases ...

    Main Source: 
    Nature, January 24, 2007

    Moore Delivers For Nuclear Waste Client

    by Bob Burton — January 24, 2007 - 6:36am

    The most recent pro-nuclear presentation by Patrick Moore, a former Greenpeace activist turned PR consultant, was at the annual conference of EnergySolutions.

    Main Source: 
    Salt Lake Tribune, January 20, 2007

    As Nicotine Dose Increases, So Must Awareness of the Pitfalls of FDA Regulation

    by Anne Landman — January 24, 2007 - 12:12am
  • Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Issue Management, U.S. Congress, Health, Marketing, Public Relations, Science, Tobacco

    • The Harvard School of Public Health released a study Thursday revealing that the amount of nicotine in cigarettes has increased significantly since the major American tobacco companies signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998. Predictably, Philip Morris (PM), in a media release available at their web site, denies the study results. The U.S. Surgeon General in 1988 warned that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine, but these drugs don't have decades of sophisticated R&D behind them aimed at heightening their addictiveness. Cigarettes, among the most highly engineered consumer products in the world, deliver nicotine into more people's bodies more times every day than aspirin. Still, they remain unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    Spin Doctor Outed As 'Health' Adviser on Guantanamo Prisoner

    by Bob Burton — January 21, 2007 - 5:42pm

    The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, recently sought to downplay concerns about the mental health of an Australian citizen, David Hicks, who has been imprisoned in G

    Main Source: 
    The Australian, January 20, 2007
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