Greenwash

Burson-Marsteller has 63 offices in 32 countries and 1,700 employees worldwide. It has represented national governments including Nigeria during the Biafran War, Romania during the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu, the ruling military junta of Argentina in the late 1970s and the South Korean government.

Burson-Marsteller has helped corporations out of crises such as the Bhopal disaster (Union Carbide) and the Dalkon Shield IUD controversy (A.H.Robins).

Burson-Marsteller claims to be able to help clients all over the world to counteract activist groups. In Australia, Burson-Marsteller's work on behalf of clients such as the National Association of Forest Industries and various developers has raised the ire of environmental activists. Protesters representing several environmental groups occupied their offices at the end of 1995 to draw attention to their "dealings with woodchipping and freeway-building clients" (Patton 1995).

In preparation for the Earth Summit held in 1992, the newly formed Business Council for Sustainable Development, a coalition of about 50 multinational corporations, hired Burson-Marsteller to "make sure the corporate viewpoint was well-stated and well received" at the Summit. Burson-Marsteller issued a press release for the Business Council for Sustainable Development, announcing that the Business Council would be playing a key role in the Earth Summit at Rio. It explained that the head of the Council, Stephan Schmidheiny, had been appointed principal adviser for business and industry to Maurice Strong, the Summit's organiser. Strong had no other special advisers and other interest groups had to submit proposals using formal channels. Joyce Nelson, author of the book Sultans of Sleaze: Public Relations and the Media observes:

With the able assistance of public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, a very elite group of business people (including B-M itself) was seemingly able to plan the agenda for the Earth Summit with little interference from NGOs or government leaders. (1993, p. 29)

Organised business interests such as the Business Council, Burson-Marsteller and the dozens of business lobbyists and trade associations that registered for the summit's preparatory conferences were able to influence the outcomes of the Earth Summit and avoid effective environmental reforms. The Earth Summit agreements support free trade; avoid specific measures to be met, such as greenhouse gas emission reductions; avoid any reference to overconsumption by affluent nations; and perhaps of most relevance, any mention of transnational companies, let alone controls over them.

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Carothers, Andre, (1993) 'The Green Machine', New Internationalist, August: 14-6.

Dillon, John, (1993) 'PR giant Burson-Marsteller thinks global, acts local: Poisoning the Grassroots', CovertAction, vol. , no. 44: 34-8.

Nelson, Joyce, (1989) Sultans of Sleeze: Public Relations and the Media, Toronto: Between the Lines.

Nelson, Joyce, (1993) 'Burson-Marsteller, Pax Trilateral, and the Brundtland Gang vs. the Environment', The New Catalyst, vol. , no. 26: 1-3, 8-9.

Patton, Baz, (1995) 'Bad public relations', Green Left Weekly, 6 December.

Rauber, Paul, (1994) 'Beyond Greenwash: An insiderÕs guide to duping the public', Sierra, vol. 79, no. 4: 47-50.

Stauber, John and Sheldon Rampton, (1995) Toxic Sludge is Good For You! Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press.

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Additional Resources:

Burson-Marsteller, web site.

Burson-Marsteller, O'Dwyers Directory of PR Firms, 2000.

What's Wrong with Burson-Marsteller?, Corporate Watch, Issue 2, Winter 1996.

Bob Burton, Wise Guys Down Under: PR's Eco-front Moves on Australia, PR Watch Vol. 4, No. 4, 1997.

Bob Burton, Sometimes the Truth Leaks Out: Failed PR Stunts "Down Under", PR Watch Vol. 4, No. 4, 1997.

Carmelo Ruiz, Europa Bio's PR friends BURSON-MARSTELLER: PR FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER,

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Campaign for Food Safety, undated.

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