1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: These German pictures destined for certain neutral countries were intended 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,159 Speaker 1: to spread Nazi propaganda. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 2: But Doctor Goebels, just a few months after their meetings 4 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 2: with Ivy Ledbetter Lee, the third Reichs propaganda machine kicked 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 2: into high gear. Within a year, they were at war 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 2: and using the techniques they'd learned from Lee and others 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 2: to cover up atrocities and to sell the German public 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 2: not only on the war effort, but also on the 9 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 2: existence and superiority of the Aryan race. In the final 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,920 Speaker 2: months of World War Two, that propaganda took a very 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 2: Ivy Lee style turn into completely made up news stories 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 2: about German wins in battles that had never even happened. 13 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 2: In those months, a young Jewish American reporter was charged 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 2: with analyzing and combating those claims. That man's name was 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,279 Speaker 2: Daniel Edelman. Here he is remembering those days in. 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 3: The Psychological love Thing. 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: It's fascinating because we were upsetting the claims made by 18 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: the Germans. 19 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 4: It's all lies, I mean, we had to discline them. 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 2: Edelman would ultimately spend four years working in psychological warfare. 21 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: He became an expert on propaganda and how to combat it. 22 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 2: And you put that expertise to work for American industries, 23 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 2: from beauty products and Sarah Lee to cigarettes and Big Oil. 24 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,040 Speaker 2: He added several new tactics to Big Oil's propaganda machine, 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 2: including a unique blend of lobbying and media relations that 26 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: he called marketing public relations, and a fun new thing 27 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 2: called astroturfing that involves creating fake grassroots groups. That's the 28 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,919 Speaker 2: story we're going to dig into today. I'm Immy Westerveld, 29 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 2: and this is Drilled, Season three, The mad Men of 30 00:01:52,400 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 2: Climate Denial. Daniel Edelman was born in nineteen twenty in Brooklyn. 31 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 2: He was a diligent student and something of a boy genius, 32 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 2: so by sixteen he was already at university. He ultimately 33 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: went to Columbia Journalism School and spent the first year 34 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: or so of his professional life as a journalist, mostly 35 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 2: covering sports and human interest stories. 36 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: Oh the girl who loves a sow girl, He's the 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: girl who adores up right. 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 2: When the US joined World War Two, Edelman wanted to enlist, 39 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 2: but his poor eyesight got in the way. But within 40 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 2: a year so many infantrymen had died. The military didn't 41 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 2: really care much about things like eyesight. It needed bodies. 42 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 2: Edelman was drafted, but his vision still kept him off 43 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 2: the front lines, and his background in journalism made him 44 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: a perfect fit for counterintelligence. He was sent for training 45 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 2: and then on to join the Fifth Mobile Radio Broadcasting 46 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 2: Company in London. This is your American expeditionary station in. 47 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,520 Speaker 4: The failed with the Fifth Army. 48 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 2: After learning for a while in London, Edelman was tapped 49 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 2: by a former Columbia classmate to join him in France, 50 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 2: helping to prepare a nightly analysis of German propaganda. Edelman 51 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 2: was soon in charge of the entire operation. 52 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 5: The job you work at there and I said fine. 53 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 2: When the fighting ended, Edelman was transferred to Berlin to 54 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 2: help shut down the German propaganda effort and state owned media. 55 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 2: He actually helped to start the popular German magazine Dershpiegel, 56 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 2: which he and a few other Americans ran for a 57 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 2: few months before turning over to German ownership. For a while, 58 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 2: Edelman thought he might stay in Germany and take a 59 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 2: job as a reporter there. Eventually, his family dissuaded him 60 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 2: and he returned home, and then, like Ivy Lee before 61 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 2: him and plenty of journalists since, Edelman struggled with whether 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 2: He wanted to report the news, or make the news, 63 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 2: live the life of a journalist, or take advantage of 64 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 2: the booming post war economy in America and get into 65 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 2: the business side of communications. He figured that his years 66 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 2: of psychological warfare would be valuable in the public relations business, 67 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 2: so he went for it. He took a job for 68 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 2: his brother in law's music label. Through that job, he 69 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 2: met the folks behind the Tony Hair Company, who eventually 70 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 2: hired him to run their PR department, which brought Edelman 71 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 2: to Chicago. As the PR guy at Tony, he took 72 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,479 Speaker 2: the company's ad campaign, which Twin had attorney, on the 73 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 2: road with multiple sets of Twins. The campaign featured side 74 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 2: by side twins both with perms, and dared customers to 75 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 2: guests which had a salon perm and which had the 76 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 2: Tony Home perm, which Twin had attorney. You can't town, 77 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 2: nobody can not yet anyway, but wait, only Tony gives 78 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 2: you this. Twin g Media tours had been part of 79 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 2: political campaigns forever by this point, but product companies had 80 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 2: never really bothered with them. Edelman saw that as a 81 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 2: missed opportunity to score hundreds of local press hits and 82 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 2: move product and communities across the country, and he was right. 83 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 2: In addition to getting coverage in local newspapers, radio, and TV, 84 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 2: at one point during the tour, the twins were arrested 85 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: in Oklahoma for performing salon services without a license. Edelman 86 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 2: turned it into a national news story that made Tony 87 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 2: a household name. It also paved the way for another 88 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 2: new approach to pr one that included a bit of 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 2: lobbying on the side. The Oklahoma arrests happened because salon 90 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 2: owners were pissed about these home perm kits taking their business. 91 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 2: Salon owners and states across the country were mobilizing to 92 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 2: push for laws that would ban kits like the Tony Kit, 93 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 2: So Edelman got busy meeting with state legislators and applying 94 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 2: some of those psy ops moves that he'd learned, mocking 95 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 2: salon owners and their proper proposals until they were literally 96 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 2: laughed out of state building after state building. A couple 97 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 2: of years later, Edelman started his own firm, calling it 98 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 2: Daniel J. Edelman and Associates with Tony as his first client, 99 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 2: but within a few years he had signed several huge clients, 100 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 2: including Mobile Oil Sara Lee Hines and several tobacco companies 101 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 2: and tobacco trade groups. His hunch was proving correct. What 102 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 2: he'd learned about psychological warfare was extremely valuable to American industry. 103 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 2: If that sounds like an exaggeration, you don't have to 104 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 2: take my word for it. Edelman's son, Richard, brags about 105 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 2: this history and a tribute to his father on the 106 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 2: Edelman website. 107 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 6: My dad was a real New York City kid born 108 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 6: in Brooklyn, went on to Dewa Clinton High School, Columbia College, 109 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 6: and Columbia Journalism School. He went on to work in 110 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,600 Speaker 6: Europe for the US Army for four years in psychological warfare, 111 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 6: and when he got out, somehow the cumulation of all 112 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 6: these experiences led him to become the father of marketing PR. 113 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 2: Marketing public relations is the term Edelman came up with 114 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 2: to describe his three hundred and sixty degree approach to PR. 115 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 2: It wasn't just media relations, it was also legislator relations 116 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 2: and truly public relations, where you were creating a direct 117 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 2: relationship between the company, or the industry or the brand 118 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 2: and the public. One way to do that was to 119 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 2: pretend to be part of the public yourself. 120 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 7: I'm a twenty year communications industry professional. I've worked in 121 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 7: corporate PR for a long time and on lots of 122 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 7: different accounts, including fossil fuel accounts, which I hated. 123 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 2: That's Christine Arena. She was an executive vice president at 124 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 2: Edelman's firm by that time, just called Edelman. Arena headed 125 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 2: up the firm's sustainability division right at the same time 126 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 2: that it was representing the American Petroleum Institute. She and 127 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 2: a few other executives at the firm made the news 128 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 2: when they quit on mass over the company's dealings with 129 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 2: fossil fuel clients. She can't share any specific insight information 130 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 2: about her time there, so she's speaking here generally about 131 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 2: the firm's reputation and about the techniques deployed by the 132 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 2: fossil fuel industry. 133 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 7: That creation of fake grassroot support, which came to be 134 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 7: known as like astroturfing, and Edelman was genius at doing that. 135 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 2: Edelman and his firm worked with multiple tobacco and oil 136 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 2: clients over the years. All big fans of astroturfing. 137 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 7: So fossil fuel industry organizations fund these fake front groups, 138 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 7: and they give these fake front groups these names that 139 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 7: sound they're like perfectly innocuous names like the California Driver's 140 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 7: Alliance or the Washington Consumers for Sound Fuel Policy, and 141 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 7: these groups there are hundreds of them, are usually secretly 142 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 7: run by lobbying organizations, like though two I just mentioned 143 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 7: are actually run by the Western States Petroleum Association, which 144 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 7: is a top lobbyist for the oil industry, and that group, 145 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 7: the Western States Petroleum Association, is in turn funded by 146 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 7: members including BP Shell, Exonmobile, Chevron, and Occidental, among others. 147 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 7: So it's fake activism, it's corporate money posing as activism, 148 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 7: and it's designed to undo all of the progress that 149 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 7: real activism makes. 150 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 2: Working for both tobacco and fossil fuel clients, Edelman also 151 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 2: invented litigation pr basically making his clients' cases in the media. 152 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 2: A critical aspect of this was what Arena calls the 153 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 2: attack the messenger strategy. 154 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 7: They are relentless at the attack the messenger strategy. 155 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 2: This has been ongoing for. 156 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: Like thirty years. 157 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 7: So the most effective attack the messengers strategy. 158 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,439 Speaker 2: To me is like the use of labeling. 159 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 7: So for example, if climate scientists refer to facts and 160 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 7: data rather than ideology, then they're labeled liberal elites. If 161 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 7: climate scientists or activists are alarmed by the data, then 162 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 7: they're alarmists. If climate scientists apply for grant dollars to 163 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 7: fund their research, then they are accused of being in 164 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 7: it for the money. 165 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: The report is made by scientists that get paid to 166 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: further the politics of global warming. 167 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:16,559 Speaker 6: If there was no climate change, we'd have a lot 168 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 6: of scientists looking for work. 169 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: The reality is that a lot of these scientists are 170 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: driven by the money. All of this with the. 171 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 4: Global warming and a lot of it's a hoax. 172 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:25,199 Speaker 2: It's a hoax. 173 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 8: I mean, it's some money making industry. 174 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 2: Okay Arena says that while tobacco used the same strategy, 175 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 2: the fossil fuel guys were just better at it. Big 176 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 2: Tobacco would attack the whistleblowers personally Big Oil they attacked 177 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 2: the whole idea of fossil fuels being any sort of 178 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 2: a problem, and because they'd spent decades crafting the narrative 179 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 2: that fossil fuel is an essential part of American life, 180 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 2: it was easy to call anyone who thought otherwise an American, 181 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,440 Speaker 2: effectively politicizing the issue. Of course, we know that big 182 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 2: oil learned new tactics from Big Tobacco too, namely in 183 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,559 Speaker 2: the form of science denial, and Daniel Edelman was right 184 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 2: there too. In the nineteen seventies, Edelman proposed an aggressive 185 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 2: campaign for the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. It contained 186 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 2: more than a few echoes of his time in the 187 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 2: trenches of psychological warfare. 188 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: Country soft, Country fresh. That's the taste you get wherever 189 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,679 Speaker 1: you light up with Salem, because Salem gently air softens 190 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: every puff for the smoothest, most refreshing taste of any 191 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: Fielder cigarette. 192 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 2: The proposal begins by suggesting, for example, that quote the 193 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: non smoker must be made to feel that the smoker 194 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 2: cares about him. It is our sense that the non 195 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 2: smoker is divided into two general groups, those who don't 196 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 2: really care if others smoke, and those who are growing 197 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,880 Speaker 2: more hostile to anyone who does smoke. We need to 198 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 2: woo the former group to our side and soften the 199 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 2: opposition of the latter. Step two is pure science denial. 200 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 2: Edelin recommends we need to pierce the solidly assumed notion 201 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 2: that no additional research is necessary on the subject of 202 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 2: cigarette smoking. Imaginative and creative ways must be found to 203 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 2: correct this impression. Of course, one of those creative ways 204 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,679 Speaker 2: is to create doubt, and Edelman proposes, quote, we need 205 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 2: to counter public impressions based on oversimplification by dramatizing pinpointed 206 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,760 Speaker 2: areas of study that are mysteries to researchers and scientists 207 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 2: on both sides of this issue. That proposal one Edelman 208 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 2: a contract, and the firm would go on to work 209 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 2: for Big Tobacco for more than a decade. If the 210 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 2: science approach they recommended for tobacco sounds an awful lot 211 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 2: like the climate science denial that started showing up a 212 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,319 Speaker 2: few years later, there's a reason for it. Edelman also 213 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 2: worked for several fossil fuel clients and the American Petroleum Institute, 214 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 2: and that's important because by the nineteen eighties, the API 215 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 2: Ivy Lee's brainchild, was pushing the industry away from researching 216 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 2: climate change and toward denying it. Former Exon scientist Richard 217 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 2: Worthemer told us that in Season one, the key. 218 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 3: Is the American Trolley Institute. Excellent had a huge influence, 219 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 3: rightly so in the API, and I think the API 220 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 3: changed hits tune and probably other majors went along with that. 221 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 2: And you can hear exactly the same sort of strategy 222 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 2: that Edelman suggested for R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 223 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 2: this speech from then Exon Mobile CEO and American Petroleum 224 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 2: Institute President Lee Raymond in nineteen ninety. 225 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 5: Six, proponents of the global warming theory say that higher 226 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 5: levels of greenhouse gases, especially CO two, are causing world 227 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 5: temperatures to rise, and the burning fossil. 228 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 8: Fuels is the reason. The scientific evidence remains inconclusive as 229 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 8: the weather human activities affect the global climate. 230 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 2: You heard that right, Raymond said. The evidence that humans 231 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 2: contribute to climate change is quote inconclusive. 232 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 8: Scientific evidence remains inconclusive as the weather human activities of 233 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:01,319 Speaker 8: the global climate. 234 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 2: But this speech was in nineteen ninety six, long past 235 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: the point where Exxon's own scientists had said climate change 236 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 2: would cause catastrophic damage for some percentage of the planet 237 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 2: in the not so distant future if emissions weren't curbed. 238 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: In the late nineteen nineties, Daniel Edelman's son, Richard, took 239 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 2: over as CEO, but Dan remained involved for the rest 240 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 2: of his life. In various interviews and in Dan Edelman's biography, 241 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 2: Richard said he talked to his dad daily about the business. 242 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 2: They didn't always agree. Of course, When he took the reins, 243 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 2: Richard almost immediately decided to drop tobacco clients. For example, 244 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 2: the writing was on the wall about tobacco by that point, 245 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 2: and what it cost the firm in tobacco billings it 246 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 2: more than made up for in good pr and new clients. 247 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 2: The firm did continue to apply the same strategies for 248 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 2: big oil for several more years, though, including as Daniel 249 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 2: Edelman's biography puts it, quote, putting a human face on 250 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 2: big oil. For the American Petroleum Institute leading the world 251 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 2: in oil and natural gas production, I. 252 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 5: Vote to keep it going. 253 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 2: With the right policies, we can produce, refine, and supply 254 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 2: more oil and natural gas. Edelman picked up where Ivy 255 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 2: Lee had left off, continuing to tie the extraction of oil, coal, 256 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 2: and gas to life liberty in the pursuit of happiness. 257 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 2: And again, it's hard not to see the roots of 258 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 2: Daniel Edelman's World War Two work in the approach the 259 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 2: firm crafted for big oil. Suddenly anyone who wasn't pro 260 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 2: oil was anti American. Daniel Edelman died in twenty thirteen, 261 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 2: but the firm that bears his name continued to apply 262 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 2: the same tactics that he'd been using effectively for decades. 263 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 2: In twenty fourteen, for example, Greenpeace leaked several documents that 264 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 2: showed an aggressive campaign Edelman had come up with for 265 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 2: trans Canada to push the Keystone pipeline. It included all 266 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 2: the same tactics we've talked about here, aggressive opposition research, 267 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 2: fake grassroots groups, attacking the messenger, and a big nationalistic 268 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 2: messaging push. In twenty fifteen, the firm announce that it 269 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 2: would no longer be working with coal companies or any 270 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 2: company that denied climate science. By that point, they'd already 271 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 2: lost not only executives but also clients, and the reputational 272 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 2: risk was just too great. However, around the same time, 273 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 2: Edelman also spun off its internal advertising group Blue, which 274 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 2: continued to work for the API. They were responsible for 275 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 2: that energy voter ad you might have seen in twenty sixteen. 276 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 5: More secure America, jobs, opportunity, and economic growth for our 277 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 5: children and grandchildren. 278 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 2: That's why this election, I'm voting. 279 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 3: For American energy. 280 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 2: For all the raw, raw America stuff the oil industry pushes. 281 00:16:55,680 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 2: These campaigns often worked to subvert democracy. In his most research, 282 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 2: environmental sociologist Bob Rule found that the biggest indicator of 283 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 2: fossil fuel pr spend was the likelihood of any sort 284 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 2: of climate legislation passing. 285 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 4: When you look at their public relations spending. The more 286 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 4: Congress starts to have hearings and write bills dealing with 287 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,880 Speaker 4: climate change, the more they start spending on public relations 288 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 4: the next year. In other words, you start having hearings 289 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 4: this year, next year you're going to have a public 290 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 4: relations onslaught from the oil companies telling you how good 291 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 4: they are, how they're so responsible and good corporate citizens, 292 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,640 Speaker 4: and that whatever problem it is that you're talking about, 293 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 4: they're right on top of it and handling it the 294 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 4: hidden messages, so therefore there's no need to regulate us 295 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 4: at all. 296 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 2: And in some cases they move even faster, as the 297 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 2: Washington Post just reported the American Petroleum Institute just dropped 298 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,679 Speaker 2: a one million dollar targeted ad buy the day after 299 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 2: a couple of current Democratic candidates said they might ban fracking. 300 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 2: And in two thousand and eight, when Democrats controlled all 301 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 2: branches of the government headed into the big global climate 302 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 2: negotiations in Copenhagen, they were spending preemptively. The API alone 303 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 2: spent a whopping seventy five million dollars with Edelman. 304 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 4: I don't think there's any other way to call it 305 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 4: other than propaganda, which is a one sided message designed 306 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 4: to create a certain impression. That's exactly what it was, 307 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 4: and it's focused, targeted, extremely well done, and apparently pretty effective. 308 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,440 Speaker 2: So we went from Ivy Lee working with standard oil 309 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 2: to World War One propaganda, to Lee advising Hitler and Gerbels, 310 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 2: to Daniel Edelman learning the tools of the trade by 311 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 2: studying and countering the Third Reichs propaganda in World War 312 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 2: Two and bringing those tactics right back to big Oil. 313 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 2: Next time, we'll meet another key architect of the propaganda apparatus, 314 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:10,919 Speaker 2: Herb Schwartz, the pr legend who took on mobile Oil 315 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 2: after Edelman, and guess what. Schwartz also started out in 316 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 2: military intelligence. He wound up adding so many new bells 317 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,600 Speaker 2: and whistles to the propaganda machine that we're going to 318 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 2: spend two episodes delving into his story. See You Then. 319 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 2: Drilled is part of the Critical Frequency podcast network. The 320 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,919 Speaker 2: show is reported, written and produced by me Amy Westerbelt. 321 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 2: Julia Richie is our editor. Our managing producer is Katie Ross. 322 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 2: She also created this season's incredible artwork, sound design, scoring 323 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 2: and mixing by b Beeman. Riga Murphy is our editorial advisor. 324 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,439 Speaker 2: Neambula Schaance is our fact checker. Special thanks to Richard 325 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 2: Wiles and to our First Amendment Attorney, James Wheaton and 326 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 2: the First Amendment Project. Drilled is made possible in part 327 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 2: by a generous grant from the Institute for Governance and 328 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 2: Sustainable Development. We appreciate their support. You can find Drilled 329 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 2: on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. 330 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 2: Don't forget to leave us a rating, a review. It 331 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 2: really helps the show. And you can follow us on 332 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 2: Twitter now at we are Drilled and visit our new 333 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 2: website drillednews dot com for climate accountability, reporting, newsletters, and 334 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,199 Speaker 2: behind the scenes stories from this season. Thanks for listening 335 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 2: and we'll see you next time.