Home » Posts tagged 'edelman'
Tag Archives: edelman
Four Years After Greenpeace Sting: PR Firm Dumps Oil Lobbyists
Four Years After Greenpeace Sting: PR Firm Dumps Oil Lobbyists
Perhaps you heard the good news – the world’s largest public relations firm, Edelman, justspun off an advertising subsidiary so that it could show a commitment to not aiding the denial of climate change science. The Guardian explains how API’s contracts with Edelman were so massive–tens of millions of dollars–that it was up to 10% of the PR giant’s income.
For years, Edelman has managed multi-million dollar contracts with the American Petroleum Institute (API), using its Blue Advertising subsidiary to help API run commercials selling fantasies to people: that oil and gas are our only viable, plentiful, “AMERICAN” sources of energy.
In the saga that led Edelman to dump the lobbyists at API, Greenpeace had a small role to play: we infiltrated a commercial shoot, run by Edelman’s Blue advertising arm for API. The commercials were to be called “Vote 4 Energy,” casting the illusion of mass popular demand for more oil and gas drilling (and more pollution, more climate change, and more government giveaways to prop it all up).
After being dressed up in a button-down, plaid orange shirt–I’m not sure what look they had in mind for me–I was put in front of the camera and told to repeat lines back. This despite the casting call for “REAL PEOPLE not Actors!” Huh.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Closing the gate after the horse left the barn: TransCanada fires Edelman | – Environmental Defence
Closing the gate after the horse left the barn: TransCanada fires Edelman | – Environmental Defence.
Yesterday, TransCanada fired its PR firm – Edelman, two weeks after Edelman’s strategy document for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline was leaked to the public. That document revealed TransCanada’s plan to play dirty to quash opposition to its risky pipeline plan.
The backlash against the strategy has been huge in recent weeks, with widespreadmedia coverage on both sides of the border.
TransCanada’s attempt at damage control comes too late. The company is trying to close the gate long after the horse has left the barn.
The leaked strategy document recommended that TransCanada use seemingly unaffiliated third parties to attack citizens groups and groups like Environmental Defence who are opposed to the risky pipeline. The company has admitted to trying to dig up dirt on citizens groups to try to unearth information it could give to third parties to attack them with. The strategy also suggested creating fake ‘astroturf’ grassroots groups to give the project the appearance of public support – a tactic that Edelman used in the U.S. on behalf of cigarette companies to try to discredit the well established links between tobacco and cancer.
As you can imagine, the leaked document hasn’t helped TransCanada earn public trust. In fact, the public backlash has been overwhelming. You can’t blame Canadians for asking questions like:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Edelman’s TransCanada Astroturf Documents Expose Oil Industry’s Broad Attack on Public Interest | DeSmogBlog
Documents obtained by Greenpeace detail a desperate astroturf PR strategydesigned by Edelman for TransCanada to win public support for its Energy East tar sands export pipeline. TransCanada has failed for years to win approval of the controversial border-crossing Keystone XLpipeline, so apparently the company has decided to “win ugly or lose pretty” with an aggressive public relations attack on its opponents.
The Edelman strategy documents and work proposals outline a “grassroots advocacy” campaign plan to build support for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline as well as to undermine public opposition to oil and pipelines generally.
The documents should cause well-deserved embarrassment for Edelman, the largest PR company in the world, as well as TransCanada.
But this is not just a temporary black eye for a PR firm and its corporate client. The Edelman documents reveal a broader industry campaign to undermine the public interest and attack the oil industry’s critics across the board.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
