Salon.com News | War is peace!: "Advertising is blatant manipulation. If there were ads on our TV trying to convince us that Osama bin Laden's ideology and religion were really wonderful, it would be just as ridiculous as these ads Charlotte Beers was trying to run in Muslim countries. "

Interesting story on the failed PR campaign to make Muslims like America. The authors of a new book "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War in Iraq" argue that PR techniques, while very effective at selling cars and Victoria Secret are not good at convincing a hostile audience to like something they hate. Charlotte Beers, the Madison Avenue ad genius ran ads that included women running in shorts--something so offensive to Muslims that the ads were not allowed to run in most Arab countries. That is the level of ignorance, arrogance, and just plain stupidity behind this effort. As the authors suggest, if we want to make real inroads in Arab countries, we have to actually talk to them. Really talk. Not just try to tell them we are great.