Some PR firms perform reputation laundering services. In these situations, a client will hire a PR firm to conceal unethical, corrupt, or criminal behavior or other forms of controversies. The PR firm will supply services that improve the client's reputation and obscure the client's history, such as: arranging publication of positive press, coordinating donations to charities, arranging sponsorships and advertising (such as of sports teams), arranging attendance at major social events, and recommending prominent associations that the client can join.[1][2][3]
Other mechanisms employed by PR firms on behalf of the purportedly corrupt or criminal customers include fake social media accounts, blogs by fake personalities, or partisan op-eds.[4]
Notable PR firms that have engaged in reputation laundering include British PR firm Bell Pottinger, which employed reputation laundering in support of clients such as Alexander Lukashenko, Bahrain, and the Pinochet Foundation.[5] PR firms Havas, Publicis, and Qorvis were hired by Saudi Arabia to perform reputation laundering after 9/11 and the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.[3]
The United Kingdom government generated a report in 2020, stating that Russian oligarchs had been "extending patronage and building influence across a wide sphere of the British establishment" and had employed public relations firms that were "willing beneficiaries, contributing to a ‘reputation laundering' process".[6][7][8]
- ^ The United Nations and Transnational Organized Crime, p. 166, Phil Williams, Ernesto Ugo Savona, Psychology Press, 1996.
- ^ "PR firms make London world capital of reputation laundering". the Guardian. 2010-08-03. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
- ^ a b "Waking up to Reputation Laundering as a Mechanism for Transnational Kleptocracy" Melissa Aten, John Glenn (editors) March 2022, National Endowment for Democracy, https://www.ned.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Global-Insights-Waking-up-to-Reputation-Laundering-as-a-Mechanism-for-Transnational-Kleptocracy.pdf
- ^ Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond Allan Thompson, p 509, 2019, McGill-Queen's Press. "So-called 'black' public relations (PR) firms have also played an important role as hired proxies for state-sponsored trolling attacks, notably Bahrain. These firms offer 'reputation laundering' services, which take many forms, including..."
- ^ "'Reputation laundering' is lucrative business for London PR firms". the Guardian. 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
- ^ Thomas, Daniel (2022-05-04). "British accountants and PR firms told to cut Russia ties". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "Economic crime in the UK: a multi-billion pound problem" Oliver Bennett MBE, Ali Shalchi 6 April 2022,Hose of Commons Library https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9013/CBP-9013.pdf
- ^ "Government response to Intelligence and Security Committee Russia Report". GOV.UK. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2023-05-24.