Ruder Finn

This article is part of the Lobbying Portal, a sunlight project from Spinwatch.

Ruder Finn (RF) is a global PR and lobbying firm. It was founded in 1948 and employs approximately 500 people in 15 cities around the world. Ruder Finn was named the no. 1 Ranking Large Agency for Overall Performance and Client Support by leading PR trade newsletter The Holmes Report and counts more than 250 corporations and non-profit organizations as clients.

In February 2014 the Ruder Finn Group companies, including Finn Partners, Binder Partners, and Ruder Finn, officially became independent of one another.

History

• In December 2004, O'Dwyer's PR Daily reported that Ruder Finn had been appointed to promote the Israeli airline El Al's "status as Israel's national carrier and handle communications regarding the privatization of the airline." [1] O'Dwyer's reported that the account win was attributed to RF's "RF's strong commitment to Israel" where it opened an office in 1977. Its offices "in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv serve clients such as General Electric, Pfizer and the Museum of Tolerance," O'Dwyers reported.

• Ruder Finn's work for Croatia (Also Bosnian Moslems and Kosovo Albanian separatists)

Promoting Islamophobic film

On 14 December 2009, "Facing Jihad" conference was organized at the Begin Center in Jerusalem. Present were: Geert Wilders, Arieh Eldad, Robert Spencer, Itamar Marcus, Daniel Pipes, Shlomo Sharan, John David Lewis, etc. During the conference the film Fitna was shown, it was distributed to all conference participants, and it was announced that the film would be shown in several European parliaments. The curious element is that the conference registration address was at the Ruder Finn PR company. Upon contacting Elie Klein, an account executive at Ruder Finn, it became evident that the company had organized the conference and set up the group's website. Ruder Finn is also actively distributing Fitna; one can obtain a free copy of the film by asking Lisa Lidor at lisa@ruderfinn.co.il

The International Free Press Society (Italy) and A Way for Oriana announced that they would host Geert Wilders to present the film Fitna in Rome. The registration to see the film inculded this:

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Elie Klein
Ruder Finn for the IFPS
212-593-5886
kleine@ruderfinn.com

Twitter: facingjihad

Further confirmation of Ruder Finn's involvement in the distribution for the Fitna film and the Facing Jihad conference can be seen in this press release by IMRA. Again, the return address is: Matthew Krieger, Ruder Finn Israel; Tel. (+972) (0) 54-467-6950 matthew@ruderfinn.co.il

Clients

On its website Ruder Finn have a comprehensive listing of both past and present clients, though it doesn't distinguish between the two.[2]

"Ruder Finn clients include world organizations, blue chip companies and brands as well as Fortune 1000 companies," its profile submitted to O'Dwyers PR Daily states.

It has worked for a wide range of controversial clients. Until the late 1990s, for example, the firm 'was instrumental in crafting an infamous campaign for US cigarette giant Phillip Morris disputing evidence that smoking was harmful to public health'. Another client in 2012 was the Maldives government, in a deal worth upwards of US$150,000 a month, accord to public relations industry magazine PR Week.

• Computer Associates
• El Al
• Eli Lilly
• Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
• Hitachi Data Systems
• Johnson & Johnson
• Michelin
• Novartis
• Pharmacia
• Pfizer
• Schering Plough
• Paine Webber
• Ricoh
• Seagate
• Verizon
• Subaru
• Target Stores
• The Getty Trust
• United Nations
• U.S. Tuna Foundation

=2012

• Maldives Government

Staff

Managing partners

• Chantal Bowman-Boyles, managing partner
• Margaret Dunning, managing partner
• Peter Finn, founding partner
• Noah Finn, partner
• Richard Funess, senior managing partner
• Anne Glauber, managing partner
• Dena Merriam, managing partner
• Gail Moaney, managing partner
• Daniel Pooley, managing partner
• Ron Rogers, managing partner
• Jessica Ross, managing partner
• Virginia Sheridan, managing partner
• Morris Silver, managing partner
• Jason Smith, managing partner
• Howard Solomon, managing partner
• Scott Widmeyer, founding partner
• Alicia Young, managing partner
• Kathy Bloomgarden, CEO (2004)
• Michael Schubert, Chief creative officer
• John Faso Senior PA advisor

Former people

• David Finn, Chairman (2004)
• Tony Esposito Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Now chief financial officer at WeissComm
• James Harff (possibly retired)

PR Prizes

Prize 1993

Ruder Finn was awarded the Silver Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the category "crisis communication". NB: This related to its work assisting Croatia/Bosnia sell the war in the Balkans to the American public and evoke a US reaction – bombing Serbia .

Prize 2004

Ruder Finn was again a winner of the 2004 Silver Anvil Medal of the Public Relations Society of America in the "Public service: Associations/Nonprofit Organizations" category for work for SeaWeb, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The project was undertaken jointly by Fenton Communications and Ruder Finn. The project was titled Caviar Emptor: Let The Connoisseur Beware.

Contact details

Ruder Finn

301 East 57th St

New York, NY 10022

Phone: 212/593-6400

Fax: 212/715-1556

Web: www.ruderfinn.com/about_main.asp

External links

• "RF Flies El Al", O’Dwyers PR Daily, December 6, 2004. (Sub req'd)
• "Ruder Finn ready to push reality TV show in mainland", PR Week, November 4, 2005. (Sub req'd)
• Beth Herskovits, "RF seeks to clarify mercury issue for Tuna Foundation", ""Pr Week"", January 5, 2006. (Sub required).