Bell Pottinger.
Discussion
Anyone see the bizarre interview of the Bell Pottinger founder on Newsnight yesterday? 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhUzbcn_fsE
Looks like they've shot themselves in the foot over a relatively small contract in South Africa. They were being paid by a friend of the President to run a secret campaign to stir up racial tension in South Africa so that it would deflect attention away from corrupt government practices over there.
Bell Pottinger, one of the City’s leading public relations agencies, has been expelled from the industry’s trade association after an investigation found its secret campaign to stir up racial tensions in South Africa to be the worst breach of ethics in its history.
UK PR firm Bell Pottinger’s role in the construction of the Gupta family’s propaganda empire was part of a multinational fake news scheme to hide the family’s growing enrichment at the expense of South African citizens and taxpayers.
The Gupta family’s propaganda campaign, allegedly assisted by Bell Pottinger, inaugurated South Africa into the epicentre of the era of fake news and propaganda which has grown in tandem with the dominance of news by social media platforms. How does it work?
They've also have had some interesting clients over the years.
The agency has standard corporate clients, such as the construction group Carillion and the car dealership Lookers, but over the past three decades it has also taken on highly sensitive geo-political PR accounts and other controversial clients. These include the Pinochet Foundation; Syria’s first lady, Asma al-Assad; the governments of Bahrain and Egypt; Oscar Pistorius, after he was charged with murder; FW de Klerk, when he ran against Nelson Mandela for president; and Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator. It also emerged last year that Bell Pottinger had been paid £500m to make propaganda videos in Iraq on behalf of the US government. They included short news segments made to look like Arabic news networks and fake insurgent videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhUzbcn_fsE
Looks like they've shot themselves in the foot over a relatively small contract in South Africa. They were being paid by a friend of the President to run a secret campaign to stir up racial tension in South Africa so that it would deflect attention away from corrupt government practices over there.
Bell Pottinger, one of the City’s leading public relations agencies, has been expelled from the industry’s trade association after an investigation found its secret campaign to stir up racial tensions in South Africa to be the worst breach of ethics in its history.
UK PR firm Bell Pottinger’s role in the construction of the Gupta family’s propaganda empire was part of a multinational fake news scheme to hide the family’s growing enrichment at the expense of South African citizens and taxpayers.
The Gupta family’s propaganda campaign, allegedly assisted by Bell Pottinger, inaugurated South Africa into the epicentre of the era of fake news and propaganda which has grown in tandem with the dominance of news by social media platforms. How does it work?
They've also have had some interesting clients over the years.
The agency has standard corporate clients, such as the construction group Carillion and the car dealership Lookers, but over the past three decades it has also taken on highly sensitive geo-political PR accounts and other controversial clients. These include the Pinochet Foundation; Syria’s first lady, Asma al-Assad; the governments of Bahrain and Egypt; Oscar Pistorius, after he was charged with murder; FW de Klerk, when he ran against Nelson Mandela for president; and Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator. It also emerged last year that Bell Pottinger had been paid £500m to make propaganda videos in Iraq on behalf of the US government. They included short news segments made to look like Arabic news networks and fake insurgent videos.
Edited by BlackLabel on Tuesday 5th September 10:05
BlackLabel said:
Anyone see the bizarre interview of the Bell Pottinger founder on Newsnight yesterday?
Yes, it was extraordinary. Apart from not believing a word of Tim Bell's denials & observing a PR expert crash before our very eyes, I felt I was watching the once great Bell Pottinger die on live television. In fact, the whole episode was bonkers, found myself at one point thinking Kim Jong Un was the sanest participant.essayer said:
What happened to James Chapman anyway? Doesn't he work for them too?
Maybe something in the water!
Last we heard from Chapman was on twitter where he claimed the Greek police beat him up on holiday on the orders of Theresa May - he also posted up lots of photos of him with bruises all over. Nothing since then. He came across as an unwell man - would not be surprised if he's been sectioned and is in hospital.Maybe something in the water!
Edited by BlackLabel on Tuesday 5th September 10:29
I see that Lord Bell has set up a new PR business called Sans Frontières. I suppose that's one of the reasons he threw his old company under a bus during that newsnight interview.
"The embattled public relations firm Bell Pottinger is under pressure to find a buyer within the next month or it could face closure by the end of the year due to mounting debts."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/06/bell...
"The embattled public relations firm Bell Pottinger is under pressure to find a buyer within the next month or it could face closure by the end of the year due to mounting debts."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/06/bell...
BlackLabel said:
essayer said:
What happened to James Chapman anyway? Doesn't he work for them too?
Maybe something in the water!
Last we heard from Chapman was on twitter where he claimed the Greek police beat him up on holiday on the orders of Theresa May - he also posted up lots of photos of him with bruises all over. Nothing since then. He came across as an unwell man - would not be surprised if he's been sectioned and is in hospital.Maybe something in the water!
Reddit said:
He was hacked then arrested and beaten up claiming that the police said powerful ppl wanted him quiet. It's sinister.
There's no reporting, no news, guido deleted the article. Something weird happened.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/6v1yz...There's no reporting, no news, guido deleted the article. Something weird happened.
Tinfoil?
I expect Bell still has many friends in high places. Which makes me doubtful that anybody at all will be prosecuted for `inciting racial hatred`.
Which is a shame, because this was a repulsive campaign.
I wonder : If any of us bribed a South African business to either sell us something, or to entice them to purchase from us - would the detail that the bribery took place overseas save us from prosecution ? no it would not.
Which is a shame, because this was a repulsive campaign.
I wonder : If any of us bribed a South African business to either sell us something, or to entice them to purchase from us - would the detail that the bribery took place overseas save us from prosecution ? no it would not.
"Lord Tim Bell: Margaret Thatcher's former spin doctor dies aged 77"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49471054
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49471054
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff