MWW said today it welcomes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development probe of the popular “Stronger Than the Storm” post-Super Storm Sandy ad campaign that featured now embattled Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Federal funding paid for the $25M campaign, which blanketed NJ and the New York and Philadelphia markets. The ads ran as Christie was running for a second term in office.
The East Rutherford, NJ.-based independent firm says it looks forward to the federal audit in the wake of “widely inaccurate reporting.”
“It will show that MWW's proposal included no mention or suggestion of using the governor in the paid advertising campaign,” says MWW. “The decision to include the governor was arrived at after the contract was awarded, based on timing, availability, and federal expenditure rules. Assertions to the contrary are simple incorrect.
“The IG's audit will also show that MWW's final proposal came in at $22.255 million, while the runner-up's proposal was $23.725 million. That means MWW came in at the lower overall bid by $1.47 million and offered the lowest hourly rates of all bidders.”
MWW notes that STTS “was one of the most successful campaigns in the history of New Jersey and had a material impact on the economic recovery of the Jersey Shore."
Christie's office called the federal review a “routine and standard operating procedure."
Husch Blackwell Strategies has added FleishmanHillard alum Michael Slatin as a principal in its public affairs group.
Rory Cooper, a veteran Republican operative and policy specialist, has joined Teneo’s Washington office as senior managing director in its strategy & communications practice.
Brian Fallon, who served as national press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run, is signing on next month as Vice President’s Kamala Harris’ campaign communications director.
TikTok is nothing more than a Chinese propaganda tool that poses “a grave threat to America’s national security and, in particular, impressionable children and young adults,” say two Congressmen who want the platform registered as a foreign agent.
Public Strategies Washington has added Abbie Sorrendino, a former aide to now Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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