INTERNATIONAL & MULTICULTURAL ISSUE - Odwyerpr.com

Orbitz asked to drop ads from FoxInternet travel giant Orbitz isbeing asked by gay rightsgroups to pull advertising fromFox News due to alleged bias.By Kevin McCauleyWashington’s FitzGibbon Mediais guiding the launch ofMediaMatters’ DropFox campaigndesigned to pressure advertisers topull ads from Fox News due to what it perceivesas the News Corp. property’s“alarming deviations from the usual standardsof a news organization.”Travel website Orbitz Worldwide is thefirst target as members of three gay organizationssigned a letter to that company’sCEO, Barney Hartford, to “raise our concernsabout your association with a networkthat advances destructive anti-gayrhetoric.”The organizations, GLAAD, CourageCampaign and Equality Matters, acknowledgethat Orbitz, which also runs a gayspecificsite, has done “great work” in“partnering and catering to the LGBTcommunity.”They blast Fox for bias “on everythingfrom gay marriage to the repeal of DADT”and conclude that its “coverage is drivenby a political agenda and cannot be consideredan objective news source.”The gay rights groups want Orbitz torethink its advertising backing for Foxbecause that translates into support for an“organization committed to advancing anagenda that demeans many of your customersand advocates limiting their civilPR Services BriefsGRAYLING SMOKES OUT EUGrayling has picked up a big anti-smoking campaignfrom the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Consumers covering 27nations of the European Union.Huntsworth’s global PR flagship is to handlemedia relations, content development, outreach toconvince adults aged 25 to 35 to quit smoking.Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi handles theadvertising component of the communications program.Huntsworth CEO Peter Chadlington believes theMarch win of British Airways business, a threeyeardeal covering 38 countries, opened the doorfor Grayling to scoop up larger mandates.He said in March that the trick is to “convert ourexpanding international pipeline into new clients.The EU win combined with the DHL courier businessin 17 countries is worth nearly $25 million.Huntsworth touts Grayling as the second largestindependent global network after Edelman. It ishelmed by Michael Murphy.rights.”Fox News denies any bias in its coverage.Brian Hoyt, Vice President of CorporateCommunications and Government Affairsat Orbitz, was contacted for corporate reactionto the DropFox effort. He provided astatement in which Orbitz played up itsstrong support of gay rights and its “perfectscore on the Human Rights Campaign’s‘corporate equality index.’”Headquartered in Chicago, OrbitzWorldwide, Inc. has been a leader in theonline travel business since its founding in2001. The site is currently responsible formore than 1.5 million flight searches andone million hotel searches every day. It hasestimated anual revenue of $870 million.Orbitz says its advertising carries an“inclusive message reflective of ourdiverse audience.” It will continue to“respect and serve the needs of all travelersno matter their politics, race, religion, sexualorientation or gender.”The company noted it “might need toagree to disagree” at times with organizationsthat it supports. JUNE 2011 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 9