Ketchum (Sort of, Not Really) Ends Its Relationship with Vladimir Putin

Only the "visuals" will change.

ketchum_logoYesterday, PR Week and The Holmes Report told us of that one of the world’s largest PR firms plans to distance itself from its most controversial client.

Both pubs reported that Ketchum’s global remit for Russia would expire and that the firm would officially end its nine-year relationship with Vladimir Putin’s government in the US and Europe.

There is, however, a major catch: fellow Omnicom property GPlus will “[continue] to operate under the terms of the contract” moving forward.

The firm’s move very closely resembles Edelman’s February decision to “end” its partnership with the American Petroleum Institute by spinning off Blue Advertising (the entity that did most of the work promoting the group’s policy goals) from the larger comms organization.

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As we know, Ketchum encountered blowback after a BuzzFeed query revealed that it had placed a 2013 New York Times op-ed in which Putin attempted to deflect blame from embattled ally Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

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