Free Republic

In 2006, after the Lebanon war, Israel's foreign ministry decided that the country had a p.r. problem on its hands. The solution? Let the world know that Israel, far from being a place of war and terror, was in fact a land of sunny beaches and beautiful women: in other words, a country that was fundamentally normal. And, so, Israel retained the p.r. firm Saatchi and Saatchi, which promised a campaign to help the Jewish state build a "narrative of normalcy." Then, last July, the Israeli consulate in New York arranged for the men's magazine Maxim to publish a spread...

I got a note from Mr. Moran, the PR guy at Absolut. It reads" "The ad has been down -- have you not seen the Pears ad in its place?" Jeffrey A. Moran Corporate and Brand Communications The Absolut Spirits Co., Inc. 401 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 CONTACT email: jeffrey.moran@absolut.com direct dial: +1 212.641.8720 main: +1 212.641.8700 fax: +1 212.641.8703 mobile: +1 917.609.2463

"I Have the Pleasure of Being the First Arab to Write About the Bright Side of the CIA" When we in the Arab world look at others we are accustomed to projecting our own faults onto them. We pull out rash and gratuitous ready-made judgments that are without basis in reality. In so doing, we do wrong to ourselves and to others. "When the subject of the CIA comes up, [we] fling out a handful of descriptions and accusations that have nothing to do with reality. The CIA is a national [security] apparatus whose mission is different than that of...

If there's one question I've heard a thousand times from Jews all over, it is this: Why is Israel so bad at PR? I know that when Jews ask me that question, they're also saying, "Suissa, you're in the business, can't you do something?" Jewish emotion never ceases to move me. I look at the pain in people's eyes when they see how the world hates us even after thousands of bombs land on our cities; I see our collective grief when Jews are murdered; I read the passionate e-mails exhorting us to stand up to our enemies, or those...

Israel Tourism Ministry Creates Interactive PR Forum By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 13....(INA) - A new online community from the Israel Ministry of Tourism website will connect users from all over the world. The Israel Ministry of Tourism has uploaded over 300 attractions and about 500 accommodation options in Israel to Google Maps and Google Earth, the Ministry told the Israel News Agency. The Israel Ministry of Tourism has launched a new Internet community forum - http://community.goisrael.com - which allows global users and potential visitors to Israel to ask questions and receive recommendations and information about...

Israel PR Finds A Friend In YouTube Videos, SEO For Sderot By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- March 12....(INA) - The Israel public relations machine, which has been ignored, battered, bruised, abused and sent out to committee by several Israel prime ministers, may have finally found an ally in YouTube. Founded in February 2005, YouTube describes itself as "the leader in online video", and "the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience." People can see first-hand accounts of current events such as the hanging of Saddam Hussein, US F-16's as they attack...

HUMA Abedin, the traveling aide who is rarely out of Hillary Rodham Clinton's sight, has been seen with bachelor Rep. Anthony Weiner

Hamas, Gaza, Iran - News Censorship By PR, Terror, Murder  By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ----- January 24, 2008 ....... Nowhere can one find democracy to be more alive, more vibrant than in the Fourth Estate. A few years after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'The Fourth Estate are working journalists. Whether it be print journalism, broadcast journalism or Internet journalism, the Fourth Estate both informs and keeps in check the First...

TEXARKANA, Texas — The biggest construction project ever attempted in Texas comes under public debate beginning Tuesday in the first of a series of town hall meetings about a proposed 4,000-mile network of superhighway toll roads. The Trans-Texas Corridor, or TTC, as it's become known, was initiated six years ago by Gov. Rick Perry. It's rankled opponents who characterize it as the largest government grab of private property in the state's history and an unneeded and improper expansion of toll roads. Texas Department of Transportation officials, and Perry, have defended the project as necessary to address future traffic concerns in...

It’s looking like a tough year for toll roads in Texas, and no one could be happier about that than Terri Hall, the San Antonio woman whose group is leading the grassroots fight against the controversial pay-to-drive roads that Gov. Rick Perry and others want to see crisscrossing the state. In September, Hall and her group, Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom (TURF), filed suit in the state district court in Austin against the Texas Department of Transportation, alleging that TxDOT has broken the law by using public funds to lobby legislators for laws favoring toll roads. TURF and Hall...

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Tom Craddick has asked lawmakers to review the Texas Department of Transportation's multimillion-dollar ad campaign promoting toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Craddick, R-Midland, included a review of the Keep Texas Moving campaign on a list of topics that the House State Affairs Committee will study leading up to the 2009 legislative session. Craddick also asked the Appropriations Committee to review transportation spending over the past five years and study alternatives for funding future transportation needs. The transportation matters were among the "interim charges" that Craddick assigned last week. Other matters to be reviewed in advance...

AUSTIN — Two state lawmakers are requesting formal inquiries into whether the Texas Department of Transportation is improperly spending money on advertising. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, question whether an estimated $7 million to $9 million TxDOT is spending on its "Keep Texas Moving" campaign is a proper use of resources. The lawmakers have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick look into the matter. Paxton said he is concerned that the transportation department is spending the money to argue its case before the public in response to lawmakers' questions about projects such...

Some readers have asked me to re-visit a few of my concerns regarding the Trans-Texas Corridor or TTC, because I have mentioned the project in my last two columns. Recently, I introduced what I like to call Nosygate. I think that is an appropriate name for the advertising campaign and subsequent information gathering effort, by a private company, on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation or TxDOT. A brief re-cap is probably in order. Unsuspecting motorists had their license tag numbers photographed while traveling and minding their own business. Their tag numbers were then traced to their home address.Their...

Middle East tensions ramp up oil prices Larry Elliott, economics editor Monday October 15, 2007 Guardian Unlimited The price of oil rose above $85 for the first time in London trading this morning as tension between Turkey and Iraq intensified concerns about shortages of supply over the winter and sparked fresh speculative buying. US light crude was up by more than $1 a barrel and hit $85.19 a barrel before easing back to $84.88 by mid-morning. Brent crude was up $1.25 at $81.60.

TexDOT: No Money to Build New Hghways Agency blames diversion of state gas tax money, curbs on privately funded toll roads By Jim Forsyth Friday, September 28, 2007 At a time the Texas Department of Transportation is defending spending thousands of dollars on a public relations campaign designed to convince you to support toll roads, the department says it has no money to pay for highway construction, 1200 WOAI's Robert Wood reports. "The bottom line is, we're running out of money very quickly," TexDOT's Chris Lippincott says. Lippincott blames decisions by state lawmakers to spend more than $1.5 billion in...

Monitoring the court fight between activist Terri Hall and the Texas Department of Transportation is a lot like staring at a buffet line full of warmed over hospital cafeteria food. On the one hand, you're hungry and interested in eating. But on the other, you really can't get excited about the choices before you. It's tempting but unpalatable to root for Hall, who has adopted the noble cause of trying to stop TxDOT from spending millions of dollars on a PR blitz to build support for toll roads. Despite Hall's impressive gifts of organizing, public speaking and rabble-rousing, she is...

AUSTIN — A judge has refused a toll road opponent's request to block the Texas Department of Transportation from spending money on a campaign that promotes toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom argued the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign violates a prohibition on state officials using their authority for political purposes. On Monday, State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo denied Hall's request for a temporary restraining order. The judge noted another law cited by state lawyers that allows the department to promote the development and use of...

AUSTIN — An activist outraged over state transportation officials' multimillion-dollar campaign to promote toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor is taking her fight to court. Terri Hall of the San Antonio Toll Party and Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom wants a state court order to halt spending on the "Keep Texas Moving" campaign because, she contends, it violates a state prohibition on state officers or employees using their authority for political purposes. "Unlike purely educational public relations efforts such as the 'Don't Mess with Texas' campaign, the KTM campaign is a one-sided attempt to advocate one political point of...

An armada of companies has descended on New York to brand Denmark as a hotbed of creativity When Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik rings the bell to start trading at Wall Street on Wednesday morning, he will also be making a symbolic wake-up call to America. As part of the Creative Nation trade delegation visiting the United States the Crown Prince and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, will spend the next week telling the Eastern Seaboard that there is more to Denmark than butter cookies and the Little Mermaid. Looking for an elegant evening gown? Danish design can be found at...

After conducting business as though it were a private entity rather than a public trust, the Texas Department of Transportation is now trying to turn the tide of public opinion in its favor. The Keep Texas Moving campaign is a $7 million to $9 million effort designed to promote various transportation projects in the state. According to the campaign site, www.keeptexasmoving.com, Texans can learn more about such projects as the vast Trans-Texas Corridor and "its promise for Texas." Unfortunately, TxDOT has a history of not being entirely forthcoming about transportation plans. Last year, agency officials and the road-building consortium Cintra-Zachry...