Without much fanfare, the Global War on Terror has ended. The new name for these military interventions is the Overseas Contingency Operation. Press Q&A. Some Republican representatives discuss. (SPOILER: They are not pleased.) Military blogs discuss. Similarly, the War on Drugs also looks to be on the way out, though no new name for the project has been announced at this time.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim on May 14, 2009 - 53 comments

AIG corporate memo, leaked to Gawker, advises employees on how not to fall victim to the populist horde calling for their heads.
posted by VicNebulous on Mar 20, 2009 - 79 comments

McDonald's UK goes Web 2.0 with a site answering user's questions. Apparently, all of them.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on Jun 15, 2007 - 141 comments

Broken Embargoes. Given the long amount of preparation required to print an automotive "buff book" (US examples include Car&Driver, Road&Track, Automobile, and MotorTrend), automobile manufacturers customarily provide them with access to concepts and new production vehicles months prior to the "official" public unveiling, requiring them to abide by an embargo on the images and data until a certain date has passed, usually to accomodate a carshow or other media event. In these cases, it was to coincide with the North American International Autoshow (NAIAS, aka Detroit Autoshow, 1/13-1/21), with the embargo lifted with either 1/7/2007 online publication or February print issues, which the buff books dropped the last week of a December. As soons as that happened, web outlets like blogs and various forums released their embargoed materials for each model. As a result, many manufacturers have had their marketing plans torn assunder (list and more background inside)...
posted by rzklkng on Jan 4, 2007 - 12 comments

Public Relations professional Jim Hoggan created desmogblog to counter the PR firms that spin the science around global warming.
posted by btwillig on Jul 13, 2006 - 6 comments

Reflected in the worsened respiratory health of NYC residents (via the WTC Health Registry), a federal judge ruled (NYT; bugmenot) former Bush administration EPA chief and NJ governor Christine Todd Whitman misled New York City residents about air quality after the attacks of 9/11. Whether or not the then-head of the Environmental Protection Agency was pressured by Bush economic policy director Lawrence Lindsey to "get the financial markets open quickly" (longer 9/11 commission report) despite concerns, her PR consulting firm continues to do greenwashing for petrochemical corporations with very poor environmental records, including FMC, responsible for 136 Superfund sites across the country.
posted by Rothko on Feb 4, 2006 - 15 comments

A Peek Under the PR Mask Once in a blue moon, we actually get a peek under the White House's public-relations mask, and this morning it comes courtesy of Peter Baker and Dan Balz , whose front-pager in The Washington Post suggests that Bush's unflagging public confidence about his Iraq policy reflects the work of public opinion researchers.
posted by Postroad on Dec 5, 2005 - 25 comments

Bush teleconference with troops staged. Nothing in the article says who is responsible for organizing the staged question and answer session, The White House, military officials, or others in the defense department. Just that it infact was staged, and that the troops were coached for 45 minutes prior to the actual teleconference. When Bush, in an unscripted move, asked an officer if he had anything to say, he stammered through a sentence, in stark contrast to the well put together responses to all the other questions, thanking the President and saying, "I like you." More PR from the Bush administration.
posted by SirOmega on Oct 13, 2005 - 173 comments

It's never too late to declare your support for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
posted by digaman on Aug 23, 2005 - 49 comments

Greenwashing is a term for "Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image." The Green Life recently released their annual America's Ten Worst Greenwashers list. It's a good overview of companies and organizations that talk the talk but don't quite walk the walk. [via treehugger]
posted by mathowie on Apr 23, 2005 - 20 comments

Alternate Reality Advertising? I noticed this peculiar advert on this morning's commute. Seems it's part of an immersive ad campaign. Since when do gamers have enough money to buy luxury rides?
posted by gnutron on Apr 21, 2005 - 13 comments

Ever wonder who gets the spin money from the government to sell us everything from wars to reforms to reconnect the Army with the American people. A rundown on the seven biggest PR firms doing business with the government, and their refusal to come clean about what it is they're doing with our tax money. PRWatch has much, much more, including exposing the funding and associations pushing Social Security "reform"
posted by amberglow on Mar 10, 2005 - 83 comments

why americans will believe almost anything.
keys to effective spin control / public relations : "dehumanize the attacked party by labeling and name calling... speak in glittering generalities using emotionally positive words... when covering something up, don't use plain English; stall for time; distract... get endorsements from celebrities, churches, sports figures, street people - anyone who has no expertise in the subject at hand the 'plain folks' ruse: us billionaires are just like you... when minimizing outrage, don't say anything memorable... when minimizing outrage, point out the benefits of what just happened... when minimizing outrage, avoid moral issues."
posted by crunchland on Jun 23, 2003 - 43 comments

Corporate PR and an obvious parallel? Yesterday, Space Mountain at Disneyland unexpectedly closed for a two year rehab. This was planned for September but a severe maintenance issue seems to have forced their hand. This is a huge things in certain circles, and this guy sees a parallel in the official version of events.
posted by obfusciatrist on Apr 11, 2003 - 18 comments

Though you won’t hear about them , there are dozens of Pentagon P.R. officers embedded with reporters in Iraq.
posted by cornbread on Apr 2, 2003 - 21 comments

Online reputations. Anything to scoff at? Yeah, yeah. I found it at /. But what importance do we place on online reputations? This could mean anything (This could include your own personal web reputation all the way up to a corporation's "web-presence"). Just how important in affecting the world at large is the "Online Reputation" versus the viral spread of "small talk"?
posted by crasspastor on Feb 18, 2003 - 25 comments

Dow and Their PR Agency got more than a pie in the face, more like egg all over 'em. Two different activist parody productions exposed their continuing despicable behaviour toward the Union Carbide release in India back in '84 when thousands died and many more continue with serious health problems. Dow and said PR firm tried to get the sites shut down, which just generated a WHOLE BUNCH more negative publicity. The sites were moved, but remain for you viewing pleasure.
posted by acutetype on Jan 9, 2003 - 3 comments

Strap on your Zyklon B's. Could help shed the pounds from eating all those Temptations.
posted by robself on Aug 28, 2002 - 55 comments

Starbuckling A writer from the NY Post calls Starbucks HQ and says a reader told them that the company's "collapse into cool" ad campaign was too close a reference to Sept. 11 (the campaign posters featured a dragonfly; perhaps the reader misconstrued it as an airplane). As a result, Starbucks pulls the ad, and just to cover its ass said it "had intended no link between the image of the beverages and the terror attacks." Is the company just making a cautious PR move, or is this going too far?
posted by risenc on Jun 17, 2002 - 27 comments

Of GM food, the PR industry and Tony Blair. George Monbiot exposes the questionable methods (fake public interest groups) of the PR industry in defense of big Agribusiness.
posted by talos on May 29, 2002 - 15 comments

How do you put a good face on war crimes? You think ahead and hire a PR agency.
posted by feckless on Mar 5, 2002 - 6 comments

DMCA: It's not just for software pirates and movie traders anymore. [salon link, sorry] Don't like what a web site is saying about your company and its investors? Cry copyright wolf and the site goes down, no questions asked.
posted by darukaru on Sep 4, 2001 - 10 comments

PR Watch outs ongoing public relations campaigns in the Spin of the Day. The June 14th entry offers a search function to find a company’s PR firm. (Database and search provided by O'Dwyer.)
posted by capt.crackpipe on Jun 23, 2001 - 2 comments

Stickin' it to the man has just been made easier, thanks to the wonderful Internet. This PR dude's site TellThemNow.com is basically going to act as an anonymous gateway to industry movers and shakers... letting you tell them exactly how you feel. Kickass. Someone tell Ev to get his Dell gripe ready. :)
posted by othermatt on Mar 1, 2000 - 1 comment