Co-authored with G. Forbes

Summary: Another arm of Gates Foundation buzz is revealed following an acquisition

THE Gates Foundation advertises itself by contracting the marketing to outside companies. This includes pushing articles of interest into relevant publications. We wrote about this many times before and have given examples.

Not so long ago, WPP (which we have criticised before) had acquired Blue State Digital. It has become evident that the Gates Foundation was and is one of the many strong clients of Blue State Digital. To quote: "Its clients include the Democratic National Committee, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation". This report from Ed Week further elaborates:

In addition to the Obama campaign, Blue State has worked for a wide array of media companies, and cultural and charitable organizations, including HBO, Hearst, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Red Cross and Carnegie Hall. According to Sky News, the agency, which is based in Washington, D.C. (with offices in New York, Boston, London and Los Angeles), has also worked for former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair.

Bear this in mind when reading anything about the Gates Foundation. There is a lot of PR muscle flexing behind the scenes. ⬆