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<h3>[http://www.prwatch.org/node/11247 Wisconsin Recall Petitions Under Guard as "GAB CAM" Goes Live]</h3>by [[Mary Bottari]]<br>So many signatures were delivered demanding the recall of Wisconsin Governor [[Scott Walker]] and other state officials, that one scribe dubbed it the “greatest popular democracy movement in Wisconsin history.” Over 30,000 volunteers collected over 1.9 million signatures and delivered them to the state’s nonpartisan elections board on January 17. Volunteers exceeded all expectations, delivering 1 million petitions for the recall of Scott Walker, an amount equivalent to 46 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. Never had so many, in the history of the United States, petitioned for the recall of a governor. The achievement "is beyond legal challenge," said Ryan Lawler, vice chairman of United Wisconsin, the group that organized the volunteer effort. But is it? Read the rest of this item [http://www.prwatch.org/node/11247 here.]
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[[Image:SmirnoffIcewildgrapeFinucane.jpg|200pxframe|rightleft|Anne M. Finucane]] <h3>[http://www.prwatch.org/node/11212 The Alcohol Industry's Stealth "Joe Camel" Strategy11245 Bank of America Hopes to Improve its Image]</h3>by [[Anne Landman]]<br> A new With its stock scraping bottom at just over $6.00 a share, its image reeling from a failed attempt to to stick its customers with a $5.00 per month debit card fee, and accusations of thousands of fraudulent foreclosures, [[http://ajphBank of America]] is undertaking another effort to improve its image.aphapublicationsHeading up the makeover attempt is [[Anne Finucane|Anne M.org/doi/abs/10Finucane]], BofA's Global Strategy and Marketing Officer.2105/AJPHMs.2011.300387 study] published in Finucane knows better than most the January 2012 issue depths of the Atrouble BofA is in. The ''merican Journal of Public HealthNew York Times'' examines dubbed her the sophisticated PR bank's chief "image officer" and says she and marketing strategies that alcoholic beverage companies have used the bank stumbled badly with their failed attempt to reimpose a $5 monthly debit card fee -make - a policy that failed after a massive uprising against the image of distilled spirits to appeal to underage drinkersfee by BofA's customers. The articleTo her credit, Ms. Finucane says that BofA's damaged reputation "Joe Camel in cannot be fixed with just a Bottle: Diageofew new slogans. ... In order to repair reputation, you have to repair the Smirnoff Brandissues that underlie" the problems, and the Transformation she says. But how this behemoth bank is going to improve its image when almost every week there is another story of the Youth Alcohol Market," by James Moshera wrongful or needlessly cruel foreclosure, utilizes a case study of Diageosuch as last week's Smirnoff brand to illustrate the tactics. Read the rest of this item news that a man was losing his home over an [http://www.prwatchhuffingtonpost.orgcom/2012/01/node04/11212 herebank-of-america-typo-foreclosure_n_1184556.html $.80 cent error,]is anyones guess. BofA spends $1.55 billion/year on marketing in the U.S. alone. Fincucane has reportedly initiated a review of the company's advertising agencies, and selected agencies will be invited to pitch ideas for new marketing strategies to help improve the company's image.
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[[Image:401k.jpg|180px|right]]<h3>[http://www.prwatch.org/node/11205 When Medicare Isn't Medicare]</h3> by [[Wendell Potter]]<br>Let's say you have a Ford and decide to replace everything under the hood with Hyundai parts, including the engine and transmission. Could you still honestly market your car as a Ford? That question gets at the heart of the controversy over who is being more forthright about GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to "save" Medicare, Republicans or Democrats. If you overhaul the Medicare system like you did your Ford and tell the public it's still Medicare, are you doing so honestly? As I noted last week, PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times' fact checker, decided that the Democrats' claim that Ryan's plan would mean the end of Medicare was so blatantly untrue it merited designation as the 2011 "Lie of the Year." Republicans, whose erroneous claims about health care reform garnered "Lie of the Year" prizes in 2009 and 2010, cheered. Democrats, as you might imagine, jeered -- as did some journalists and pundits. PolitiFact's Washington-based editor defended the choice by contending that Ryan's proposal to restructure Medicare by providing beneficiaries subsidies to buy private insurance would not "end" the program. It would still be Medicare, he reasoned. What he's missing is that Ryan's proposal would change the program so fundamentally as to represent the equivalent of replacing the engine and transmission. Read the rest of this item [http://www.prwatch.org/node/11205 here.]
