Politics

Clinton Global Initiative Hires APCO Worldwide

By Anne Landman

Former President Bill Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005 to implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems, like hunger, poverty and access to health care. By some accounts, CGI's effectiveness rivals that of the United Nations in this regard. Ironically, CGI selected APCO Worldwide to help organize its 2010 annual meeting. APCO is the same public relations firm that helped Philip Morris organize a damaging front group in October, 1993 called The Advancement of Sound Science Coaltion that helped the tobacco industry fight public health efforts to control secondhand tobacco smoke after the EPA rated it a Group A Human Carcinogen. APCO has also helped industry pin the label of "junk science" on environmentalists. APCO also managed a massive, tobacco industry-funded, below-the-radar national effort aimed at altering the American judicial system to make it more hostile towards product liability lawsuits. The effort, also known as tort reform, was actually an internal corporate program of Philip Morris (PM). PM hired APCO to created fake "grassroots" organizations around the country called "(insert state name here) Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, e.g., "Alabama Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse." Creating the appearance of a "tort reform movement" was a massive undertaking that involved convincing other industries to join the so-called "movement" to help mask Philip Morris' involvement as the organizer.

Full post as published by PR Watch on September 20, 2010 (boomark / email).