Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to influence their perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity is not controlled and contributed by external parties. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. The exposure is mostly media-based, and this differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations often aims to create or obtain coverage for clients for free, also known as earned media, rather than paying for marketing or advertising also known as paid media. However, advertising is also a part of broader PR activities.
Michael Stanley Dukakis is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican nominee, Vice President George H. W. Bush.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., often known simply as Chipotle, is an American multinational chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos, and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. As of June 30, 2024, Chipotle has 3,500 restaurants. Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.
Joseph Patrick Lockhart is a spokesman and communications consultant, best known for being the 21st White House Press Secretary during the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton. Previously, he had worked as press secretary for several Democratic politicians, including Walter Mondale, Paul Simon, and Michael Dukakis. Following his work as press secretary in the Clinton administration, he was an advisor to John Kerry during his 2004 presidential campaign. He subsequently founded and became managing director of the communications consulting firm The Glover Park Group, worked for Facebook from 2011 to 2012, and was executive vice president of communications and public affairs for the NFL from 2016 to 2018.
PR Newswire is a distributor of press releases headquartered in Chicago. The service was created in 1954 to allow companies to electronically send press releases to news organizations, using teleprinters at first. The founder, Herbert Muschel, operated the service from his house in Manhattan for approximately 15 years. The business was eventually sold to Western Union and then United Newspapers of London. In December 2015, Cision Inc. announced it would acquire the company. On January 1, 2021, Cision formally merged PR Newswire into the company.
A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker or seller at risk of legal action. Product recalls are one of a number of corrective actions that can be taken for products that are deemed to be unsafe.
Bernard Shaw was an American journalist and lead news anchor for CNN from 1980 until his retirement on March 2, 2001. Prior to his time at CNN, he was a reporter and anchor for WNUS, Westinghouse Broadcasting, CBS News, and ABC News.
Ketchum Inc. is a global public relations firm, offering marketing, branding, and corporate communications services in the corporate, healthcare, food and beverage, and technology industries. George Ketchum founded the firm as a Pittsburgh-based advertising company in 1923. It later evolved to include a public relations practice. The firm is headquartered in New York City, with auxiliary offices and affiliates in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. The agency has been owned by Omnicom Group since 1996. Ketchum merged with Düsseldorf-based Pleon in one of the industry's largest mergers in 2009. It has been led by President and CEO Mike Doyle since 2020.
Fenton Communications is a public relations firm that was founded by David Fenton in 1982. They describe themselves as the "largest public interest communications firm in the country", and maintain offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. The CEO of Fenton is Valarie De La Garza. She succeeded Ben Wyskida as CEO in 2021.
Matthew Hiltzik is an American lawyer and publicist. He is the founder of Hiltzik Strategies, which represents high-profile organizations and individuals such as various politicians and Hollywood figures. He has also occasionally been an executive producer on documentaries and written for magazines.
Eric B. Dezenhall is an American crisis management consultant, author, and founder of Washington D.C.-based public relations firm Dezenhall Resources. His aggressive tactics on behalf of his clients have made him both a target of criticism and a quoted pundit on crisis communications.
Burson is a global public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City, focused on building reputation for clients.
David Fenton is the Chairman and co-founder of Fenton Communications, created with Robert Pollock in 1982 to promote issue-oriented public relations campaigns focusing on the environment, public health and human rights. In 1984 Fenton and Pollock split up, with Fenton maintaining the New York address and Pollock retaining the Washington location. Since founding the company, he pioneered the use of professional P.R. and advertising techniques by nonprofit public interest groups in the United States and around the world. The company has offices in New York, Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1984, Fenton and Pollock split the company, with Fenton retaining the New York office and Pollock the Washington office.
Howard Benjamin Bragman was an American crisis manager, public relations practitioner, writer and lecturer. He was often seen as a "PR guru".
Michael Harrison McCain is a Canadian business executive who serves as the executive chairman of Maple Leaf Foods. McCain formerly served as the president and chief executive officer from 1999 until 2023, and as chief operating officer of the company until the end of 1998. He is one of the wealthiest people in Canada and is currently listed on Canadian Business Magazine’s 100 richest Canadians.
Geoffrey S. Morrell is the president of Global Strategy & Communications at Teneo, a public relations and advisory firm. In 2022, he was the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Disney for three months before resigning. He served as the Executive Vice President of Communications and Advocacy at BP from 2011 to 2021. From 2007 to 2011, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the press secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Qorvis is an international Washington, D.C.–based public relations, advertising, media relations and crisis communications firm. It was acquired by the Publicis Groupe in January 2014, and became Qorvis/MSLGroup.On December 31, 2022, Qorvis was sold by Publicis to a group led by long-time Qorvis executive Matt J. Lauer.
The Glover Park Group was an American communications consulting firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. The company was founded in 2001 by former White House and Democratic campaign officials Carter Eskew, Michael Feldman, Joe Lockhart and Chip Smith. In January 2021, the firm merged with Finsbury and Hering Schuppener to form Finsbury Glover Hering, which itself later merged in December 2021 with New York City-based Sard Verbinnen & Co to form FGS Global.
The Scarecrow is a 2013 animated short film and advertisement by the American restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. The film features Fiona Apple singing a cover version of "Pure Imagination", originally performed by Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
