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[Usobuko]

When the South African track star Oscar Pistorius stood trial for the brutal killing of his girlfriend, he hired Bell Pottinger, an aggressive British public relations firm, to try to smooth his tattered reputation. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and his wife turned to the firm for help in recasting their image. So did Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus.

In the fraught world of image makeovers, Bell Pottinger stood out for venturing where others feared to go. It courted embattled governments, controversial clients and powerful people who ran afoul of public opinion. Along the way, it reaped hefty fees and became one of Britain's most influential public relations firms.

But on Tuesday, Bell Pottinger came crashing down after its latest effort, in South Africa, spiraled into disaster. The firm was forced to appoint administrators for its British operations as clients, employees and a major shareholder cut their ties to the firm.

The firm's collapse came after an independent report released last week showed that it had conducted an unethical, race-baiting campaign that exploited divisions between South Africa's black and white residents with the goal of diverting attention from a scandal surrounding the country's embattled president, Jacob Zuma.

Lord Bell, a gregarious, blunt-spoken man whom Mrs. Thatcher nominated for knighthood, insisted that there were two sides to every story, and that Bell Pottinger's job was to make sure that the version it was telling prevailed. He left the firm last year to start a new venture.

"We help shape client reputations, tell effective stories and run creative campaigns to enhance their brand and deliver commercial success," the firm said on its website.

Such methods are not illegal, and are widely used by companies, governments and other public relations firms. But Bell Pottinger appeared to test the limits of its approach in South Africa last year when it was hired by Oakbay Capital, a holding company run by the Gupta brothers, members of a powerful Indian family with widespread business interests in South Africa and close ties to Mr. Zuma.

The South African president, long a target of corruption allegations, was under growing criticism for supposedly allowing the Guptas to influence government appointments and securing lucrative government contracts through cronyism. The Guptas also attracted negative press coverage stemming from accusations that they had used their wealth to influence Mr. Zuma as the average South African struggled.

After being hired by Oakbay for a monthly fee of 100,000 British pounds, or about $133,000, Bell Pottinger initiated what it called an "economic emancipation campaign." The firm sought to portray opponents of the Guptas and Mr. Zuma as agents of white-owned businesses eager to economically disenfranchise black South Africans.

The firm edited the Guptas' Wikipedia page to tone down negative material, and encouraged activists to spread stories online that suggested "economic apartheid" was deepening in South Africa because of the minority white population.

A hashtag, #WhiteMonopolyCapital, circulated on Twitter, and the term "white monopoly capital" began to be used on a television station owned by the Guptas, according to local news reports. Mr. Zuma also spoke of "white monopoly capital" as being a driving force behind calls for his resignation.

Source: NYTimes

What a world we live in.

 

[danm999]

Jesus Christ what a resume.

 

[The Pope]

Yeah. They mounted a huge anti-white Twitter bot and YouTube bot campaign.

Look black people are still suffering like crazy in South Africa and SA is still in need of economic diversification. However stirring up tensions isn't going to do any good.

 

[Ozigizo]

They sold their souls for 100k a month.

I couldn't live with myself is I was working at that firm.

 

[Afrikan]

Sounds like some Roger Stone shit..

 

[Acorn]

Good, thought they were gonna get away with this shit.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Maybe Russia is hiring

 

[Slayven]

At least someone is paying for this shit

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

We should really reject raciscm because it's often a ploy to stir shit up. It's horrible, and, sometimes a manipulation. That manipulation makes it feel worse.

 

[weekev]

What a disgusting company. What concerns me more is that someone will step up and take this shit stain of a companies place.

 

[Morat]

After having been the go to PR firn of dictators for decades it's kind of amazing that this is what has done for Bell Pottinger. still, good riddance to bad rubbish.


Edit - some of the their clients:

The government of Sri Lanka; FW de Klerk, when he ran against Nelson Mandela for president of South Africa; Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai premier, whom protesters claim still controls the country; Asma al-Assad, the wife of the president of Syria; Alexander Lukashenko, the dictator of Belarus; Rebekah Brooks after the phone-hacking scandal broke; the repressive governments of Bahrain and Egypt; the American occupying administration in Iraq; the polluting oil company Trafigura; the fracking company Cuadrilla; the athlete Oscar Pistorius after he was charged with murder; the Pinochet Foundation during its campaign against the former Chilean dictator's British detention; the much-criticised arms conglomerate BAE Systems – Bell or Bell Pottinger has represented all of them. "They get involved in lots of 'special situations', in reputational and crisis PR," says Alec Mattinson, the deputy editor of PR Week. "The reputation they have is as an agency that goes where other agencies would fear to tread."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/09/bell-pottinger-tim-bell-pr-interview

 

[jellies_two]

The gupta brothers sound more interesting. They had to flee South Africa supposedly. I guess they bribe whomever to get whatever they want.

 

[airjoca]

Surely other companies like this are doing the exact same thing all over the world right now. What a time to be alive.

 

[Condom]

Zuma is holding the country hostage

 

[kyser73]

These guys & Burson-Marsteller if you were a*reall* shitheel with power they'd get the positive spin going.

No tears will be shed.

 

[Vagabundo]

They could get people killed for a 100k a month?

Fucking scum. I hope having this company on your CV becomes caustic.

 

[SKINNER!]

Lord Bell, a gregarious, blunt-spoken man whom Mrs. Thatcher nominated for knighthood

Just when you thought Thatcher couldn't be even more of a vile human being...

 

[Lanrutcon]

Rainbow nation, but the only color that matters is green.

 

[RipperGrim]

These people are the fucking scum of the earth, the damage they caused South Africa is disgusting. I hope everyone involved goes bankrupt.

 

[spineduke]

this is horrifying and amazing to read. their client list speaks for itself.