THE WEEKLY SPIN, June 20, 2007 Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:09:34 -0500 (CDT) THE WEEKLY SPIN, JUNE 20, 2007 == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. Blessed Unrest for a Wiser Earth: John Stauber Interviews Paul Hawken == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. New Participatory Project: Cleaning up Tobacco Documents Biographies == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. Greenwashing Zoos 2. BP Loses Australian Bid to Trademark Green 3. The Pentagon Gets Its Own Tony Snow 4. Al Gore, Corporate Greenwasher? 5. Talent's Talents Used to Oppose Fuel Efficiency 6. Yahoo: Notice What We Say, Not What We Do 7. Alli Oops! A Real Mess for Drug Campaign 8. A Look Inside the Dictators' Lobby 9. McDonald's Wants in the "Mom-to-Mom Dialogue" 10. Michael Evans, A General in God's Army 11. Hughes' New Public Diplomacy Plan More of the Same -------------------------------------------------------------------- == BLOG POSTINGS == 1. BLESSED UNREST FOR A WISER EARTH: JOHN STAUBER INTERVIEWS PAUL HAWKEN by John Stauber My first introduction to author Paul Hawken's work was his 1994 book The Ecology of Commerce. It is essential reading for anyone grappling with issues surrounding capitalism, social justice and ecological sustainability. Hawken is, among his plethora of accomplishments, a highly successful businessman, but The Ecology of Commerce pulled few punches in its criticism of even those companies truly trying to set and reach a higher standard of business social responsibility. I met Paul in person the first time in early 1999 over dinner in his hometown of Berkeley, California, some months before the now-legendary "battle of Seattle" protest, a world-changing event that catalyzed his thinking and eventually led to his newest book, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. The November 30, 1999, anti-corporate protests at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) became a global media moment, a highly visible but inaccurately reported coming out party for the movement Hawken documents and touts in Blessed Unrest. To read the rest of this item, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/node/6158 == BE A CITIZEN JOURNALIST == 1. NEW PARTICIPATORY PROJECT: CLEANING UP TOBACCO DOCUMENTS BIOGRAPHIES http://www.prwatch.org/node/6157 We need help cleaning up existing articles in our new Tobaccowiki Biographies database. Tobaccowiki is a new project to mine information from tobacco industry documents now available online. The Biographies articles contain information on people affiliated with the tobacco industry, such as consultants, political allies, and employees. You can help by editing any of the articles - everything from reformatting to rewording sentence fragments to adding new information is very helpful! We're especially interested in strengthening articles on: Allen M. Brandt, the author of the new book Cigarette Century; Bing Crosby, who endorsed Chesterfield cigarettes; Albert Gore, the U.S. vice-president during major tobacco litigation; and Norma Broin, who launched a landmark legal case against cigarette companies. If this is your first time editing on SourceWatch, go to www.SourceWatch.org for more information. SOURCE: SourceWatch Tobaccowiki == SPIN OF THE DAY POSTINGS == 1. GREENWASHING ZOOS http://www.prwatch.org/node/6164 David Hancocks, a former director and architect of zoos in the United States and Australia, is skeptical of the conservation benefits often claimed by zoos. While many zoos tout breeding as a success story, Hancocks sees it as "merely basic zoo business: zoos must breed their animals to preserve their collections. Hardly any animals born in zoos are introduced to the wild." Despite this, he wrote in an opinion column, "they nonetheless loudly position themselves as leaders in wildlife conservation. In truth, government and non-government agencies are most successful in restoring habitat and reintroducing wild species. Zoos play an occasional minor role - and want all the glory." While a supporter of what he describes as a handful of the "best zoos", he is not persuaded by the claims of many zoos that their re-designed enclosures improve conditions for the animals: "The new zoos, sans cages, make visitors feel better, but it is all deception. The animals typically have no contact with living plants, separated from them by electric wires." The attraction of such greenwashing is in attracting greater visitor numbers. SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald, June 20, 2007 2. BP LOSES AUSTRALIAN BID TO TRADEMARK GREEN http://www.prwatch.org/node/6163 The High Court of Australia has dismissed a bid by BP to have the green Pantone colour 348C used in its logo registered as its trademark. BP's barrister, David Shavin, requested leave to appeal the lower court's decision that the company can't trademark the colour. However, Justice William Gummow was skeptical: "It might be inherently adapted to mislead, might it not? ... What is nature [sic] and healthy about the production or consumption of petroleum products?" BP's Shavin asserted, "To the consumer in the context of oil, your Honour, green indicates BP, not environmental friendliness." Justice Michael Kirby commented that "it was a clever colour to have chosen so many years ago because it is now very much associated with the environmental movement." A majority of the three judges rejected BP's application and awarded costs against the company. Despite the setback, BP has registered the colour green in over 20 countries. SOURCE: Australian Financial Review, June 15, 2007 3. THE PENTAGON GETS ITS OWN TONY SNOW http://www.prwatch.org/node/6160 Citing an unnamed "senior administration official," The Politico reports that Geoff Morrell, "previously a White House correspondent for ABC News, has been hired as the Defense Department's on-camera briefer. ... The official said that a working journalist was chosen by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in an effort to improve press relations at a time when the administration is under pressure to show progress in Iraq." SOURCE: The Politico, June 18, 2007 4. AL GORE, CORPORATE GREENWASHER? http://www.prwatch.org/node/6156 Is Al Gore aiding and abetting the world's largest greenwashers? The New York Times reports that "The brightest lights in the advertising business are gathering in Cannes, France, this week for an annual celebration. ... Mr. Gore is being accorded rock star status at the festival. ... The embrace of Mr. Gore shows how 'green' advertising has galvanized the marketing community. 'The consumer sentiment out there is just palpable,' said Hamish McLennan, chief executive of Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency that arranged Mr. Gore's visit to Cannes and helped him to develop the Save Our Selves (SOS) campaign for environmental awareness. ... Not long ago, it seemed, only oil companies touted their environmental credentials via big-budget advertising campaigns. But now green advertising is everywhere. ... The idea that consumers can continue to consume, making tiny changes in their behavior, is attractive to marketers, too. Not only can they keep promoting consumption, they can turn greenness into a selling point." SOURCE: New York Times, June 18, 2007 5. TALENT'S TALENTS USED TO OPPOSE FUEL EFFICIENCY http://www.prwatch.org/node/6154 In his new role as co-chair of the PR firm Fleishman-Hillard's government relations (or lobbying) practice, former U.S. Senator Jim Talent will be "spearheading the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers' bid to torpedo the effort to raise fuel mileage standards to 52 miles per gallon" by 2030. Instead, the automakers are supporting a compromise measure from Senators Carl Levin and Kit Bond. "Talent cannot lobby for the Levin-Bond bill because of Senate rules," explains O'Dwyer's. "He can do media outreach on behalf of the carmakers." SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), June 18, 2007 6. YAHOO: NOTICE WHAT WE SAY, NOT WHAT WE DO http://www.prwatch.org/node/6153 One day after the mother of Chinese reporter Shi Tao announced she was suing the Internet company Yahoo for helping Chinese officials imprison her son, Yahoo said it was "dismayed that citizens in China have been imprisoned for expressing their political views on the Internet." Yahoo's brief statement did not mention Shi Tao, who received a 10 year jail sentence for "leaking state secrets" in 2005. He had forwarded an email describing media restrictions placed by the Chinese government. The court that sentenced Mr. Shi used information provided by a Hong Kong subsidiary of Yahoo to convict him. The new legal challenge is part of an lawsuit filed by the World Organization for Human Rights USA against Yahoo, its Hong Kong subsidiary and Alibaba.com, which runs Yahoo China. SOURCE: Associated Press, June 12, 2007 7. ALLI OOPS! A REAL MESS FOR DRUG CAMPAIGN http://www.prwatch.org/node/6151 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has launched a $150 million promotion campaign for its over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss drug, Alli. But not all media coverage is up-beat about what is a lower-dose version of Roche's prescription only drug, Xenical. New York Daily News reporter Julian Kesner reports that Alli consumers "might just find themselves $50 poorer, lacking in vitamins ... and suffering a bout of diarrhea." GSK has produced a video on what it refers to as "treatment effects," which the product pack states may include "more frequent stools that may be hard to control." A consumer coalition, Prescription Access Litigation, has given GSK its 'With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?' award for marketing the drug over-the-counter, where there are less controls to ensure it is used appropriately. In February this year, the Australian drug regulator revoked Roche's approval to market Xenical with direct-to-consumer advertising, as there "was insufficient public health benefit." SOURCE: New York Daily News, June 13, 2007 8. A LOOK INSIDE THE DICTATORS' LOBBY http://www.prwatch.org/node/6147 To investigate high-powered lobbying firms' advocacy for "corrupt, dictatorial foreign regimes," Harper's Washington editor Ken Silverstein posed as "Kenneth Case" of "The Maldon Group," a fictitious London-based firm which he said had "a financial stake in improving the public image" of Turkmenistan. An excerpt of Silverstein's article on Harper's website describes his meeting with Cassidy & Associates. Cassidy lobbyists said their work for Equatorial Guinea was "a very similar sort of representation to what you're talking about" for Turkmenistan, and boasted of getting President Teodoro Obiang off Parade Magazine's "worst dictator" list. They also trumpeted the firm's "strong personal relationships" with policymakers. According to the Wall Street Journal, both Cassidy and APCO Associates suggested "an aggressive campaign against 'biased' news stories, organizing conferences at which sympathetic views could be aired, finding ways to get members of Congress to take paid trips to Turkmenistan and emphasizing how much the U.S. would benefit if Turkmenistan further opened its economy to outside investment." APCO further "recommended holding forums for journalists, academics and politicians, hosted by a third party, where a Turkmen politician could give a speech." SOURCE: Harper's Magazine, July 2007 9. MCDONALD'S WANTS IN THE "MOM-TO-MOM DIALOGUE" http://www.prwatch.org/node/6148 PR Week has more on McDonald's "moms' quality correspondence" PR campaign. The fast food giant met with the six mothers in early June, "at the company's global headquarters in Oak Brook, IL. Future interactions will include a visit to a beef supplier in August and a 'farm field' and produce supplier in September. ... The moms will also get the chance to work behind the counter of McDonald's in Oklahoma City." McDonald's PR executive Tara Lazarus Hayes said the mothers "will get to see first-hand how menu items are made, and ask our executives tough questions about nutrition," and also get a "sneak peek" at a "product due to launch next year." The campaign is geared to help McDonald's neutralize criticism about fast food and childhood obesity. "We're also hoping to dispel that McJob image," added Hayes. "We understand the mom-to-mom dialogue is important because they listen and influence each other." She explained that McDonald's hopes "the misperceptions they had and myths that are out there will be debunked by their [the mothers'] experience." The mothers will write about their experiences "and have them posted, unedited by McDonald's, online at McDonaldsmom.com." SOURCE: PR Week, June 13, 2007 10. MICHAEL EVANS, A GENERAL IN GOD'S ARMY http://www.prwatch.org/node/6146 Bill Berkowitz reports on the rise of Michael D. Evans: "In recent appearances on two U.S. cable news networks, he was slinging and zinging -- the well-rehearsed pitchman for the Biblical 'End Times' was dead certain that 'Iran is going to have to be attacked' before 2008. He also claimed that during a recent visit to Iraq, he was told by intelligence sources that Iran had given the green light to Hezbollah to unleash suicide bombers in the United States this summer. ... These days, the bestselling author and head of the 'Jerusalem Prayer Team' ... is at the top of his game. On June 3, his new book, 'The Final Move Beyond Iraq: The Final Solution While The World Sleeps', made it onto the New York Times bestsellers' list at number one in the paperback category. ... Evans had 'made himself a major religious movement and media figure long before his new book was published,' CMD's John Stauber ... told IPS. 'He's not just an author, he's a general in God's patriotic army, and he knows how to mobilize his troops.'" SOURCE: IPS, June 13, 2007 11. HUGHES' NEW PUBLIC DIPLOMACY PLAN MORE OF THE SAME http://www.prwatch.org/node/6145 Karen Hughes in IndonesiaA new public diplomacy plan, authored by Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, says the United States must "offer a positive vision of hope and opportunity that is rooted in our most basic values." The "U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication" promotes a Hughes favorite, the "diplomacy of deeds," which is defined as "providing health care, education, economic opportunity, food and shelter, training for political participation, help after disasters." Also put forward is a "Counterterrorism Communications Center," to develop "messages and strategies to discredit terrorists and their ideology." The Center is "now being formed at the State Department and [is] staffed heavily with military and intelligence officers," reports Warren Strobel. The new plan stresses that "all communication and public diplomacy activities" should "support those who struggle for freedom and democracy." Former State Department official Price Floyd countered, "When people hear that, they stop and say, 'What about Abu Ghraib? What about Guantanamo?'" SOURCE: McClatchy Newspapers, June 12, 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to further information about media, political spin and propaganda. It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers. 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