On 2/25/21 12:06 AM, Patrick Bond wrote:
Actually, there's another better-known case of 4ICR activists killing
a corporation: Bell Pottinger. The disgusting London PR firm - which
dictators like Pinochet had on speed dial for their spin doctoring, as
Lord Tim Bell had been Thatcher's celebrated ad man - was hired by
then president Jacob Zuma's nexus of state capturers (especially the
Gupta brothers) to create political-manipulative bot armies of which
Steve Bannon would have been proud. In mid-2017, that London PR firm
got the corporate death sentence
<https://www.pambazuka.org/global-south/south-africa%E2%80%99s-fight-between-hostile-brothers-%E2%80%93-%E2%80%9Czuptas%E2%80%9D-and-%E2%80%9Cwhite-monopoly-capital%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93>
as all sorts of 4ICR cadre here - including the scion of a filthy-rich
tobacco and luxury goods empire, Johann Rupert - revolted and ensured
that a decisive rift left the firm paralysed and reputationally sunk.
Its death throes were excellent, as captured in a 2020 doccie made by
fine local journos
<https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-21-bell-pottinger-exposed-influence-unpacks-the-evils-of-disinformation/>,
/Influence. /Here's <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czSZ9b1yipI> the
trailer.
Time for your overdue movie review, Lou?
What? I did review it.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/11/from-aipac-to-the-dogs-of-istanbul-the-2020-doc-nyc-film-festival/
3.Influence <https://www.docnyc.net/film/influence/>
“Influence” is structured around a long interview with Sir Timothy Bell,
the disgraced former CEO of Bell Pottinger, the British PR firm that
served the needs of rightwing governments from its inception. The best
way to see Bell Pottinger, a firm I never heard of before watching the
film, is as a counterpart to Hill and Knowlton that led the propaganda
campaign leading up to the first Gulf War.
Chain-smoking throughout the interview and cynical to the bone, Bell is
asked if he had any regrets about doing wrong. He replied that he was a
businessman, not a priest.
Bell got started as a top salesman for Saatchi and Saatchi, the British
advertising company that was notorious for its edgy commercials, both
for commodities and public service. In one famous ad, you see a photo of
a “Pregnant Man” meant to promote the use of contraceptives. When
Margaret Thatcher decided to run for office, she hired Bell to supervise
the production of Tory campaign ads, including one titled “Labor is Not
Working” that incorporated the kind of cheap demagogy people like Lee
Atwater an Roger Ailes used in the USA.
With the huge success of the Margaret Thatcher ad, Bell went on to form
his own company and take on clients like apartheid South Africa and
Pinochet’s successor in Chile. In other words, we are talking about
Scumbags, Inc. Finally, Bell got his comeuppance when his company was
implicated in a propaganda campaign for the Gupta family in South Africa
that was conniving with Jacob Zuma to fleece the country’s treasury. His
firm was delisted by the governing board for PR and advertising firms
and then abandoned by clients, even those scuzzy enough to hire Bell and
Pottinger in the first place. This is a terrific film that will give you
a good idea of how the Big Lie operates in England.
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