Public Relations

Thin Lizzie

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Fresh from the slammer, disgraced celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman is trying to rehabilite her image by teaching a three-hour class called "How to Succeed in Public Relations and Image Marketing." According to O'Dwyer's PR Daily, Grubman's presentation included two and a half hours of Q&A in which "she did not mention the 2001 hit-and-run incident at Conscience Point in the Hamptons which landed her in jail, and some questions submitte

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Main Source: 
Salon.com, August 7, 2003
Topics: 
Ethics
Public Relations

State Department Fills PR Czar Position

Submitted by Laura Miller on

After much speculation, Ambassador to Morocco Margaret Tutwiler is finally returning to Washington to take Charlotte Beers' old post as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. Ad queen Beers stepped down among much criticisms in March. The Washington Post's Al Kamen writes that Tutwiler, who served as assistant secretary of state for public affairs for the elder Bush, "was most happy with her Morocco assignment -- apparently even with an occasional terrorist bomb going off -- and was said to be ambivalent about coming back.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, August 4, 2003
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

"Media Plan" Nearly Incinerated

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Officials with the British Ministry of Defence were preparing to destroy a "media plan" about Dr. David Kelly three days after his death, according to a the Telegraph. "It is not clear whether the papers were burned, but MoD officials admitted last night that ministry security guards called the police after finding the 'media plan' relating to the Kelly affair in a sack of classified waste being prepared for incineration," the paper reported.

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Main Source: 
Telegraph (UK), August 2, 2003
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Iraq
International
Science

Branding America, Part II

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Just in from the been there, done that department: "With anti-American sentiment rising worldwide, Bush administration officials say they are stepping up efforts to market America throughout the world," reports Michelle Orris. "Polls indicate that international opinion of the United States has plummeted in the last year, and worldwide sympathy for the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has all but dissipated."

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Main Source: 
Austin American-Statesman, August 1, 2003
Topics: 
International
Public Relations
U.S. Government

America, Eat Your Fries!

Submitted by Laura Miller on

The U.S. Potato Board is facing a crisis stemming from the decline in french fries sales, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. So, they've enlisted the creative powers of the St. Louis-based firm Osborn & Barr, whose clients have included the Cattlemen's Beef Board, National Pork Board and United Soybean Board. The Potato Board is looking for "concepts aimed at opinion leaders and consumers" to be part of a $1 million campaign (run by food industry PR giant Fleishman-Hillard) to get Americans to eat more french fries.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, August 1, 2003
Topics: 
Agriculture
Crisis Management

Death of a PR Man

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Tex McCrary, a legendary New York public relations man and political strategist who helped invent the talk-show format on radio and TV, has died at the age of 92. His obituary in the New York Times notes that McCrary helped elected President Eisenhower after serving as a public relations officer for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Richard Severo notes that McCrary also "became one of the first Americans to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped.

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Main Source: 
New York Times, July 30, 2003
Topics: 
Public Relations

Former Government Flacks Find Corporate PR Path

Submitted by Laura Miller on

Prime Minister Tony Blair's top spokesman Alastair Campbell's may be the next in a long line of government spinners to take a high-powered spot in corporate public relations. Rumors of Campbell's leaving No. 10 Downing Street, have him "being stalked by international agencies, keen to utilise his government and media contacts," the Financial Times reports. Campbell's potential career path is already well trod. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer will hang out his shingle as an advisor to top corporate executives.

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Main Source: 
Financial Times, July 29, 2003
Topics: 
International
Public Relations

Wired Public Diplomacy

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"The US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) unveiled a series of new proposals last week to increase America's presence overseas, while recognizing 21st century dangers and federal budget restraints," PR Week writes. "Center-stage was the 'virtual consulate,' a web-based service that facilitates interaction between citizens of remote foreign regions and the US government. Already functioning in a handful of Russian cities, virtual consulates require no physical US presence and perform approximately half the work of a full-service consulate. ...

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Main Source: 
PR Week, July 28, 2003
Topics: 
Internet
Public Diplomacy

Qorvis Communication Quacks For Kingdom

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Qorvis Communication is helping Saudi Arabia lash out at critics who believe the 'blanked-out' section of the Congressional 9/11 report exposes the Kingdom's involvement in the terror attacks," O'Dwyer's PR reports. "The Bush Administration demanded that the 28-page section dealing with the role played by Saudi Arabia and other governments in 9/11 be omitted from the 900-page report." Qorvis has a $200,000 a month contract with the Kingdom for PR work. Saudi Arabia spent $288,000 at Patton Boggs -- a well connected D.C.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, July 25, 2003
Topics: 
Terrorism
International
Public Relations

Edelman Drops British American Tobacco Account

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Edelman PR Worldwide, which represents the National Dialogue on Cancer, has dropped British American Tobacco as a client in Malaysia, according to The Cancer Letter of July 25," O'Dwyer's PR reports. "Richard and Daniel Edelman had signed a pledge that the firm would not work for tobacco companies when it won the non-profit group's account last October. Edelman's Kuala Lumpur office, however, helped BAT promote 'social reporting,' issuing press releases about scholarships for children of tobacco farmers.

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Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR, July 25, 2003
Topics: 
Public Relations
Tobacco

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