Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"It seems what young student journalists would be 'learning' from this experience is how to take a free trip and meals from one of the company's larger corporations," wrote University of North Carolina business journalism professor Chris Roush. He had just received an email from one of General Motors' PR people, asking for help in promoting GM's "First College Journalists Event," in Las Vegas on September 9 and 10.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Wal-Mart's new television ads promote "its health care plans, charitable contributions and positive impact on the American economy" in "unusually detailed terms." In one ad, the narrator says, "Our low prices save the average working family $2,300 a year. Which buys a lot of things -- and a whole lot of freedom." Wal-Mart's Robert McAdam stated, "These ads are more direct than anything we have done before." The New York Times' Michael Barbaro compares them to political campaign ads.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The electronic voting machine company Election Systems & Software (ES&S) "agreed to a $750,000 settlement that resolves complaints filed after its software caused delays for some Indiana voters and election officials during the state's May primary," reports the Associated Press.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
PR Week's "Toolbox" column provides tips on how to increase the effectiveness of various PR techniques. But in the August 15, 2006, issue, the feature hints at union-busting techniques. The question is how "to reduce the level of acrimony, improve communications, and facilitate a more pleasant outcome" to labor disputes.
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
The Institute for International Research notes that it is transmitting information about its September 2006 corporate social responsibility meeting in Dubai solely via the web in order to conserve paper. But one of IIR's sessions--the "CSR Bazaar"-- might lead some to wonder if the organization sees the forest or only the trees.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"With nearly 50 years in marketing, Keith Reinhard knows when a brand is in trouble," Christopher Lee writes in the Washington Post. "Even before the war in Iraq bred new resentment of the United States abroad, the country had developed an image problem, says Reinhard," who in 2004 founded Business for Diplomatic Action, to get U.S. corporations involved in public diplomacy.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Andrew Young, the former civil rights leader turned chair of the front group Working Families for Wal-Mart, resigned from the pro-Wal-Mart group, after making remarks he now calls "demagogic" and "racist shorthand." During an interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel, Young said Wal-Mart should cause small local stores to go ou
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Drug company funding for the Mental Health Council of Australia to run lobbying and disease awareness campaigns, The Age reports, raises "questions about whether the agendas of a consumer group and that of a multinational drug company are the same." Some of the companies that have funded the council include Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Eli Li
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The video "Al Gore's Penguin Army," which belittles the threat of global warming (suggesting viewers "stop exhaling") and makes fun of the former vice-president, has a "home-made
Submitted by John Stauber on
Rick Berman, the corporate lobbyist and front group king who runs Berman and Co. is probably smiling all the way to the bank, no doubt enjoying a prominent profile in USA Today headlined "Got a nasty fight?
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