"The former spokeswoman for Arlington National Cemetery says the facility's No. 2 official has been calling military families to try to talk them out of media coverage of their loved ones' funerals, despite his denials that he does so," reports William H. McMichael. "Gina Gray, who was fired June 27 after 2½ months on the job, said Deputy Director Thurman Higginbotham told her in early May that he had been making such calls for about a year -- while denying he did so at least three times, including once in an April 30 meeting with Pentagon reporters to discuss the cemetery's media policy." Gray said she reviewed the cemetery's paperwork for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 and found that 63 percent of the families agreed to media coverage. She says that her support for granting media access "led her supervisors to limit her authority, constantly track her comings and goings, occasionally refuse to reply to her e-mails or even speak to her and, finally, to fire her."

Last month, when pop singer Alicia Keys protested Philip Morris International's (PMI) sponsorship of her concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, PMI was forced to pull down posters and billboards that promoted the event. That debacle was hardly over when health advocates started pushing for PMI to end its involvement in yet another concert, the August 30 reunion of the Filipino group Eraserheads, a band so popular in this part of the world that it has been dubbed the "Beatles of the Philippines." People seeking tickets to the free concert are directed to www.marlboro.ph, a Web site run by PMI's Philippine subsidiary. To obtain tickets and information, visitors must provide personal contact information that allows PMI to send them promotional materials for cigarettes. The Eraserheads concert is generating tremendous buzz on the Internet that often mentions the Marlboro web site and brand name, conferring substantial positive publicity upon PMI and its best-selling cigarette brand. But last week, the Philippines Department of Health warned PMI that it is violating the country's tobacco regulation law, which, as of July 1, 2008 prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising in mass media, including the Internet, places strict restrictions on other tobacco promotional activities and bans tobacco company sponsorship of concerts and other events.

"Wal-Mart has been taking many major steps [to] go green in recent years," writes Eoin O'Carroll. "So you can imagine my surprise when I came across Wal-Mart's comment on the Federal Trade Commission's attempts to standardize carbon offsets." As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, the FTC is revising its environmental advertising guidelines, prompted by the booming trade in carbon offsets, environmental "credits" that can be purchased to balance the impact of activities (like plane flights) that emit greenhouse gases. The FTC plans to issue guidelines for carbon offsets and renewable electricity credits (RECs). Wal-Mart suggested (PDF) to the FTC, "rather than attempting to define offsets or RECs, the Commission should rely on the flexibility inherent in the 'reasonable basis doctrine.' ... Different authoritative and expert institutions have adopted different, but reasonable approaches." O'Carroll summarizes, "Wal-Mart is arguing that we should not seek to come up with a firm definition ... because there doesn't yet exist a firm definition." In response, Wal-Mart told O'Carroll that standards for RECs and offsets should be determined by "governmental entities and highly technical experts with vast environmental expertise," not the FTC.

BP solar ad with militaryBP North America recently launched "its first full-scale lifestyle effort," to promote its new gas with "Invigorate." Unlike a traditional product launch, which "simply discusses gas," BP's "Younger for Longer" campaign will compare its new gas formula to older athletes. The oil company says its new gas "cleans and extends the use of engine parts, in the same way a healthy lifestyle contributes to a longer lifespan." The campaign will run for five years, with support from the GolinHarris firm. It will include ads, "a mobile tour and interactive Web site." The tour -- of BP's "Invigoration Station" -- will visit 15 cities, offering "the chance to participate in activities related to the athlete spokespeople, such as rock climbing." The "older" athletes featured in the campaign are a 53-year-old mountain climber, a 55-year-old marathon runner and a 31-year-old surfer. Golin's Gary Rudnick said the goal of the campaign "is to build a relationship with our target consumer, and create the awareness and loyalty."

The CEO of the public relations firm Burson Marsteller, Mark Penn, likes John McCain's TV ad likening Barack Obama to celebrities like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. "Hillary Clinton's former top strategist wrote the ad tries to 'portray Obama's leadership for change as something fluffy and useless.' It bears a Republican political trademark 'attacking a candidate's strengths rather than the candidate’s weaknesses.'" In an essay posted on Politico.com, Penn contends that "clever negative ad can be devastatingly effective." He says that like the McCain ad, "Some negative ads crystallize voters' opinions without presenting any new information." Penn isn't troubled by that. "This year, you can expect a tough political season and plenty of negative ads. Done fairly, they serve a legitimate role." As CMD reported previously, Mark Penn was demoted from his role as "chief strategist" with the Hillary Clinton campaign after several embarrassing conflicts of interest came to light.

Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi (inset). Photo by Sydney Morning Herald.First the organizers of China's spectacular Olympic opening ceremony admitted that they digitally faked the dazzling "footprint" fireworks that viewers saw on TV leading up to the Bird's Nest stadium. Now it has emerged that the cute little girl who sang a patriotic song in the ceremony was lip synching for another little girl who, officials decided at the last minute, was not cute enough to adequately represent China's national image. Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke became an instant star in one of the most memorable moments of China's opening show, as she stood in her red dress and white shoes singing "Ode to the Motherland." But her voice was dubbed with that of Yang Peiyi, another little girl with crooked teeth who was originally chosen to sing the song. Chinese officials apparently felt the original little girl did not look perfect enough to adequately represent the country. Chen Qigang, musical director of the opening ceremonies, explained the last-minute switch by telling Beijing Radio, "The performer was Lin Miaoke, but the sound was Yang Peiyi. The reason...is this: One was for the benefit of the country. The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings, and expression, and Lin Miaoke meets our requirements in those aspects."

Overexposure to manganese has caused Parkinson's-like symptoms for thousands of welders, but the makers of manganese-containing welding wire and electrodes are avoiding liability by manipulating science. Jim Morris writes that "the welding companies paid more than $12.5 million to 25 organizations and 33 researchers, virtually all of whom have published papers dismissing connections between welding fumes and workers' ailments. ... The pattern doesn't surprise George Washington University epidemiologist David Michaels, author of Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. Corporate-funded research articles are often 'advocacy documents that are being produced purely for use in court cases,' he says. 'It's unfortunate, because it really pollutes the scientific literature.'" Industrial toxicologists have known since the 1930s that manganese exposure damages the brain and central nervous system. Morris notes that "if you were to graph out the welding industry's spending on science, you'd see a dramatic uptick in 2003 -- the year an Illinois jury awarded $1 million to a welder named Larry Elam." Since then, mounting lawsuits by injured welders have driven a funding boom for pro-industry scientists.