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]]]]]]]] HOW A PR FIRM EXECUTED THE ALAR SCARE [[[[[[[[[[
(3/10/1989)
[From The Wall Street Journal, 3 October 1989, p. A22:4]
[Kindly uploaded by Freeman 10602PANC]
After this year's stir over use of the chemical Alar on
apples, political publicist David Fenton celebrated the work of
his firm in a lengthy memo to interested parties. He wrote of a
``sea change in public opinion'' that has ``taken place because
of a carefully planned media campaign, conceived and implemented
by Fenton Communications with the Natural Resources Defense
Council.'' Extracts are printed below:
In the past two months, the American public's knowledge of the
dangers of pesticides in food has been greatly increased.
Overnight, suppliers of organic produce cannot keep up with
demand. Traditional supermarkets are opening pesticide-free
produce sections. ...
The campaign was based on NRDC's report ``Intolerable Risk:
Pesticides in Our Children's Food.'' Participation by the actress
Meryl Streep was another essential element.
Usually, public interest groups release similar reports by
holding a news conference, and the result is a few print stories.
Television coverage is rarely sought or achieved. The intensity
of exposure created by design for the NRDC pesticide story is
uncommon in the non-profit world.
Our goal was to create so many repetitions of NRDC's message
that average American consumers (not just the policy elite in
Washington) could not avoid hearing it -- from many different
media outlets within a short period of time. The idea was for
the ``story'' to achieve a life of its own, and continue for
weeks and months to affect policy and consumer habits. Of course,
this had to be achieved with extremely limited resources.
In most regards, this goal was met. A modest investment by
NRDC re-paid itself many-fold in tremendous media exposure (and
substantial, immediate revenue for future pesticide work). In
this sense, we submit this campaign as a model for other
non-profit organizations.
Media coverage included two segments on CBS 60 Minutes [26 Feb
and 14 May], the covers of Time [6 Mar] and Newsweek [30 Jan]
(two stories in each magazine), the Phil Donahue show, multiple
appearances on Today, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning,
several stories on each of the network evening newscasts,
MacNeil/Lehrer, multiple stories in the N.Y. Times, Washington
Post, L.A. Times and newspapers around the country, three cover
stories in USA Today, People, four women's magazines with a
combined circulation of 17 million (Redbook, Family Circle,
Women's Day and New Woman), and thousands of repeat stories in
local media around the nation and the world. ...
Consumer feedback devices were built into the campaign,
including self-published book sales and the first use of a 900
phone number by a non-profit group. ...
Planning the Campaign
In October of 1988 NRDC hired Fenton Communications to
undertake the media campaign for its report. ... The report
marked the first time anyone -- inside government or out -- had
calculated children's actual exposure levels to carcinogenic and
neurotoxic pesticides. The study showed one of the worst
pesticides to be daminozide, or Alar, used primarily on apples
and peanuts. ...
[L]ast fall, Meryl Streep contacted NRDC, asking if she could
assist with some environmental projects. Ms. Streep read the
preliminary results of the study and agreed to serve as a
spokesperson for it. ...
It was agreed that one week after the study's release, Streep
and other prominent citizens would announce the formation of
NRDC's new project, Mothers and Others for Pesticide Limits.
This group would direct citizen action at changing the pesticide
laws, and help consumers lobby for pesticide-free produce at
their grocery stores.
The separation of these two events was important in ensuring
that the media would have two stories, not one, about this
project. Thereby, more repetition of NRDC's message was
guaranteed.
As the report was being finalized, Fenton Communications began
contacting various media. An agreement was made with 60 Minutes
to ``break'' the story of the report in late February.
Interviews were also arranged several months in advance with
major women's magazines like Family Circle, Women's Day and
Redbook (to appear in mid-March). Appearance dates were set with
the Donahue Show, ABC's Home Show, double appearances on NBC's
Today show and other programs.
Releasing the Report
On February 26th CBS 60 Minutes broke the story to an audience
of 40 million viewers. ... The next morning, NRDC held a news
conference attended by more than 70 journalists and 12 camera
crews.
Concurrently, NRDC coordinated local news conferences in 12
cities around the country also releasing the report. ...
Announcing Mothers and Others
On March 7 Meryl Streep held a Washington new conference to
announce the formation of NRDC's Mothers and Others for Pesticide
Limits. She was joined by board members including pediatrician
Dr. T Berry Brazelton, National PTA President Manya Unger and
Wendy Gordon Rockefeller of NRDC.
Coverage of Mothers and Others that week included USA Today
(cover); The Today Show on NBC; The Phil Donahue Show (10 million
viewers); Women's Day (6 million copies sold); Redbook (4
million); Family Circle (6 million); Organic Gardening (1.5
million); New Woman (1.7 million); People Magazine; USA TODAY
Television (200 markets); Entertainment Tonight (18 million
viewers); ABC's HOME Show (3 million viewers); Cable News Network
and numerous radio networks, newspaper chains, broadcast chains,
wire services and other media around the nation.
In addition, we arranged for Meryl Streep and Janet Hathaway
of NRDC to grant 16 interviews by satellite with local tv major
market anchors. ...
In the ensuing weeks, the controversy kept building. Articles
appeared in food sections of newspapers around the country.
Columnists and cartoonists took up the story. MacNeil/Lehrer,
the New York Times and Washington Post did follow-up stories, as
did the three network evening programs and morning shows.
Celebrities from the casts of L.A. Law and thirty-something
joined NRDC for a Los Angeles news conference.
Soon school systems began banning apples (which is not what
NRDC intended or recommended). Three federal agencies (EPA, USDA
and FDA) issued an unusual joint statement assuring the public
that apples were safe (although to children who consume a great
deal, these assurances are not entirely true).
Then, by coincidence, two Chilean Grapes were found laced with
cyanide [2 March], and a story which had been building anyway
went further. Newsweek and Time did additional stories -- on
both covers the same week -- about the safety of the food system,
with more coverage of the NRDC report.
And the industry struck back. NRDC's credibility was, as
expected, questioned by industry ``front groups'' such as the
American Council on Science and Health. A major corporate pr
firm, Hill and Knowlton, was hired for $700,000 by the apple
growers, which also put forward a $2 million advertising budget.
Stories began appearing (including a Washington Post cover piece)
saying that the levels of Alar in apples were below federal
standards, and charging the media with exaggerating the story.
This missed the whole point of the study -- that children ingest
so many apples for their size that the legal federal standard is
unsafe. ...
Usually, it takes a significant natural disaster to create
this much sustained news attention for an environmental problem.
We believe this experience proves there are other ways to raise
public awareness for the purpose of moving the Congress and
policymakers.
[The following is not part of the original article.]
Ames, Bruce N., Gold, Lois Swirsky. ``Pesticides, Risk, and
Applesauce'', Letters, Science 244:755-757 (19 May 1989).
Ames, Bruce N. ``Dr. Bruce Ames Rebuts CBS'', Priorities, Fall
1989, pp. 38-39.
Reprint of letter of 29 June 1989 sent by Bruce Ames to Don
Hewitt, Executive Producer, 60 MINUTES, concerning the
distorted and dishonest treatment of Ames in the 60 Minutes
program broadcast on 14 May 1989. Priorities is a publication
of the American Council on Science and Health, 1995 Broadway,
16th Floor, New York, NY, (212) 362-7044.
Jukes, Thomas H. ``Alar and Apples'', Letters, Science 244:515
(5 May 1989).
Randolph, Eleanor. ``Getting Noticed Is Only Half the Battle'',
The Washington Post, 3 March 1989, p. A17:3.
Piece on the NRDC's maneuvering for maximum media exposure;
mentions Fenton.
Whelan, Elizabeth M. 1989, ``When Full Disclosure Is Beside the
Point'', The Wall Street Journal, 22 August, p. A14:3.
``[W]hat it boils down to is that no source of funding would
be acceptable to ACSH'S critics. What our critics object to
is not our funding -- but our conclusions. If the money
rained on us from heaven above, it would be considered
polluted or acidic. ... When you raise questions about the
safety of industrial products, it is easy to win a debate --
you don't even have to get to the science; just say your
opponent is funded by industry.''
--------------
[Sysop's note: Compare this with the Washington PR creeps Porter
& Novelli who for a consideration of $200,000 organized "Nuclear
Winter," see AtE June 1984.]
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