Public Relations

The American Jewish Committee is sponsoring a multi-million dollar TV ad campaign to "bolster support" for Israel in the U.S. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports, "The pro-Israel ad campaign will position the country as a beacon of freedom in a rough area of the world. It also will argue that Israel is committed to the peace process, having already signed agreements with former adversaries Egypt and Jordan.

WorldCom may be a bad example of how to run a company, but it's doing a good job of reputation management, according to Idil Cakim of the Burson-Marsteller PR firm. "WorldCom is a good example of how crisis could be managed, or at least the public could be answered, via the Internet," Cakim said, praising the web site which WorldCom has created to share information with the public about its bankruptcy.

"After more than five decades of relying on advertising for its recruitment efforts, the Marine Corps has decided to let PR pros take a shot at finding them a few good men," PR Week reports in a front page story. Longtime Marine advertising agency J. Walter Thompson recruited sister company Hill & Knowlton to join in on a bid for the five-year, $200 million contract. Having won the account in July, the campaign details are still being worked out.

"Saudi Arabia should stop its 'PR drivel' in the U.S., and flat out explain to the American people that serious issues exist between the Kingdom and the U.S., according to Khaled Al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, the Kingdom's English-language paper," O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports. "He urges Saudi Arabia to 'abandon those fancy public relations firms whose own executives look at us unfavorably, but are doing the job for the dollars.'" Saudi Arabia's PR firm, Qorvis Communications, receives $200,000 a month for its work.