company:bell pottinger

How Bell Pottinger, P.R. Firm for Despots and Rogues, Met Its End in South Africa
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/04/business/bell-pottinger-guptas-zuma-south-africa.html

If an autopsy could have been performed on Bell Pottinger, Britain’s most audacious public relations firm, the cause of death may have been summarized as “acute embarrassment.”

This is ironic because Bell Pottinger always seemed defiantly beyond shame. During its 30 years in the upper echelons of Britain’s spin doctoring game, it sought to polish the image of dictators (Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus), repressive regimes (Bahrain and Egypt, to name two) and celebrities accused of despicable crimes (the Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius after he was charged with murder).

But in early 2016, Bell Pottinger signed a client that ultimately buried it in disgrace.

#Bell_Pottinger reputation muddied by South African scandal

For years, the British public relations group Bell Pottinger has advised on burnishing the standing of controversial regimes from Belarus to Bahrain, but its work for South Africa’s #Gupta family has seen it become mired in scandal this week, inflicting major reputational damage on the firm itself.

https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.prod.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbe6b6564-3741-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3?source=next&fit=scale-down&width=700#.jpg

BBC News - Wikipedia investigates PR firm Bell Pottinger’s edits
►http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16084861

Bell Pottinger admitted to editing entries, but said it had “never done anything illegal”.

Mr Wales said he was “highly critical of their ethics”.

“I’ve never seen a case like this. In general when I speak to PR firms they have ethical guidelines that would prevent this kind of conduct.”

#lobby #com_de_merde