Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Mexican restaurant chain Chi-Chi's has brought in CCG Strategic Communications to deal with PR crisis due to an outbreak of Hepatitis A linked to the restaurant, which has sickened 500 people and killed three in Pennsylvania.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Monique Harden and Nathalie Walker, two public interest lawyers, report that they attended "the recent conference of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), called 'Communicating in a Volatile World.' ACC is the trade association for the 180 largest manufacturers of chemicals in the U.S. Until recently, ACC was known as the Chemical Manufacturers Association. The ACC conference was a real eye-opener. It revealed the ACC's genuine fears about the accomplishments of environmental health activists.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Dan Klores Communications, a PR firm that specializes in "crisis communications" for clients embroiled in scandals, is representing Sean ("P. Diddy") Combs, the artist formerly known as "Puff Daddy," as he faces criticism for the use of sweatshop labor to manufacture his clothing line.
Submitted by John Stauber on
Alicia Mundy writes that "I was about to go live on the
Today show to discuss my book on the fen-phen scandal when the host,
Maria Shriver, leaned forward and very kindly said, 'I'm really sorry
about the way we're doing this interview and the questions I have to
ask. You understand, don't you?' ... It seems that the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth-Ayerst, had been
calling. Wyeth, a major conglomerate, makes Dimetapp and Robitussin, as
well as hormone replacement products and other drugs, and was a huge
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
A Canadian meat packing plant has retained the Primary Counsel Group, a PR firm, to help answer allegations that it has been processing and selling "deadstock" - dead and condemned animals deemed unfit for human consumption.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Wal-Mart, concerned about its public image, is using a consultant to analyze that image and has commissioned radio and television ads to try to reverse criticism from local officials, consumers and others," Constance Hays reports.
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.
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.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"If President Bush's White House is known for anything, it is competence at delivering a disciplined message and deftness in dealing with bad news," Washington Post's Dan Balz and Walter Pincus write. "That reputation has been badly damaged by the administration's clumsy efforts to explain how a statement based on disputed intelligence ended up in the president's State of the Union address." The shifting White House story about it's references to Iraq, Niger and uranium continues to draw attention to the Bush administration deception.
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"In England, they shot the messenger," the Los Angeles Times' Robert Scheer writes, referring to the apparent suicide of British biological weapons expert David Kelly. The scientist, who worked for the British Ministry of Defense, found himself at the center of a battle between the British government and the BBC over a BBC report that the government "sexed up" a September 2002 intelligence dossier on Iraq's weapons.
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