Edelman CEO slams the naked protesters that infiltrated agency HQ

Kate Magee, prweek.com, 01 September 2009, 5:36pm

Edelman's CEO said the naked protesters that infiltrated his offices yesterday are using 'old-fashioned PR'.

Naked protest: Edelman's London HQ

Climate Camp demonstrated at Edelman’s headquarters in Victoria yesterday morning. Six naked protesters occupied the lobby and superglued their hands together. Others climbed up on to the roof. A flash mob also arrived, using loudspeakers and sound systems to disrupt the offices for 45 minutes.

But Edelman’s CEO Robert Philips said that the protesters were not interested in having a discussion with Edelman about the issues.

'The protesters didn't seem very organised. We offered them a conversation, but that seemed to confuse them. They are engaged in old-fashioned PR, stuck in the mid 1980s. They just wanted to make noise rather than get their point across through conversation', he said.

Edelman was targeted for its work with client EON, which owns the controversial Kingsnorth power station, the planned site of a new coal-fire power station. It is the second time the agency has been targeted for its work with EON. It was visited by activists from Oxford Climate Action in July 2008.

The Climate Camp 2009 activists said they wanted to ‘expose the naked truth behind Edelman’. Activist Alice Fielding said: ‘Edelman are nothing more than new coal spin doctors, intent on making profit out of EON’s activities at the expense of the global climate.’

All Comments

Tob Brown - 02 September 2009

The protesters may well have been engaged in 'old-fashioned PR' but to say they just wanted to make noise and not get their point across is myopic. Would a quiet conversation in Edelman's offices have garnered five national news articles, over 20 blogs and countless tweets all conveying the group's main grievance.

Old PR, yes, but it still achieved exactly what they wanted....

R Phillips - 02 September 2009

It depends on what they wanted. For sure, they did well on the publicity front. But have they actually started a real and lasting dialogue on the issue that is so close to their hearts? At some point, they have to stop shouting and start engaging.

Alex Evans - 02 September 2009

Sure, the protestors weren't interested in a dialogue - but it's disingenuous of Edelman to suggest that they were either. See this post \(and exchange with Robert Phillips) yesterday on GlobalDashboard.org:

http://www.globaldashboard.org/2009/09/01/let-the-dialogue-commence/

edelman - 02 September 2009

I have posted elsewhere, answering Alex Evans' point. There is nothing disingenuous in what we are saying. It is in fact rather frustrating that some seem to damn us if we do and damn us if we don't.

Nick Miles - 03 September 2009

However you define PR - and it seems silly to categorise some tactics as outdated when they deliver the desired results in today's media - it would appear that Climate Camp had a result here.

Surely Mr Philips could have been a little more gracious and afforded them some praise for a stunt well executed and a job well done?

Eve Banning - 04 September 2009

The activists in the lobby approached Edelman \(not the other way around) asking for a talk, and were told only one could go upstairs to a private room for a chat. This would have effectively ended the protest and removed the public's access to the facts on the matter by turning it into a private discussion. This was simply not acceptable, hence the refusal. The activists on the roof were not contacted once by an Edelman employee, throughout the entire 5 hours up there. Our video response:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjgfY_EZcWc

As this is a PR website, it is perhaps relevant for me to point out that we will target any PR companies out there who engage in Greenwash. This was not the first time, and will not be the last time. PR companies will be held accountable - that is a promise.