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DC-Based Public Affairs Shop Wins 2nd National PR Award for 2005; M&R Strategic Services' PR for Keep Antibiotics Working Wins O'Dwyer Award
(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, Feb 13, 2006 (U.S. Newswire via COMTEX) --M&R Strategic Services, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm, has won its 2nd national PR award for its consulting work for "Keep Antibiotics Working: The Campaign to End Antibiotic Overuse" ( http://www.keepantiboticsworking.com ) in 2005. O'Dwyer's PR Report has honored M&R with its first annual "Award for Public Communications" in the public affairs/environmental PR category. The campaign is featured in the February issue of O'Dwyer's PR Report (see online version of story at http://www.mrss.com/news/odwyers(under)award(under)feb06.pdf . According to Google, O'Dwyer's is the No. 1 website for original "public relations news."
The O'Dwyer Award honors PR campaigns based on transparency and accountability that show a high level of creativity in increasing public understanding of a product, service or issue. The awards recognize interactive communications in which members of the public and press have the opportunity to question client and PR firm representatives to learn more about the subject at hand. The winners submitted a summary of media placements including audience reached and described tangible actions taken such as special events, fundraising drives, coalitions created and legislative actions won, according to O'Dwyer's news release announcing the honored PR campaigns (see news release at: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId(equals)news(
under)view&newsId(equals)20060208005812&newsLang(equals)en ).
In December, M&R received a 2005 Gold Magellan Award from the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) in the Community Relations: Non-Profit/Charity/Foundation category for its PR consulting work for the KAW coalition (see LACP award scorecard for M&R and KAW at: http://www.lacp.com/2005magellan/4264.HTM ).
Keep Antibiotics Working (KAW) is a coalition of health, consumer, agricultural, environmental, humane and other advocacy groups with more than 9 million members whose primary goal is to help combat the antibiotic resistance crisis in human medicine by ending the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The Union of Concerned Scientists (a KAW member) estimates that 70 percent of the total quantity of antibiotics and related drugs used in the U.S. are used as agricultural feed additives for chicken, hogs and beef cattle -- not to treat illness -- but rather to promote growth and compensate for crowded and stressful conditions at industrial-scale farms.
"It's an honor to work with the Keep Antibiotics Working coalition to publicize their work to solve an important public heath problem: the massive misuse and overuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture that is accelerating the antibiotics resistance crisis in human medicine," said M&R Senior Vice President of Media Relations Sean Crowley, the PR consultant for the KAW campaign since its launch in 2001. "The recognition by both O'Dwyer's PR News and League of American Communications Professionals of M&R's and KAW's joint success is a great bonus."
During 2005, M&R helped KAW generate more than 1,500 print, radio and TV stories, editorials, letters to the editor and op- eds, reaching a combined audience of more than 49 million people. Among the topics covered were:
-- The Food and Drug Administration's issuance of a final ban on the use of fluoroquinolone (Cipro-like) antibiotics in poultry, the first time that the FDA has ever banned use of an agricultural drug because of antibiotic resistance concerns.
-- Petitioning the FDA to ban the use of medically important antibiotics as feed additives because this use violates the specific safety criteria laid out in the agency's own regulatory guidance. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association joined the formal Citizen Petition filed by KAW members Environmental Defense, Food Animals Concerns Trust, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
-- Adoption of a policy by Compass USA, the nation's second- largest food service company, requiring its pork and poultry suppliers to end growth-promotion use of antibiotics that are important in human medicine.
-- Adoption of a policy by Bon Appetit Management Company (BAMCO), a leading food-service corporation, to require its turkey suppliers to produce turkey without using antibiotics that are important in human medicine as feed additives. BAMCO's earlier policy, adopted in 2003, applied to chicken but not turkey.
-- Successful implementation by McDonald's Corporation of the policy it adopted in 2003 requiring chicken suppliers to forgo use of medically important antibiotics as growth promoters. KAW member Environmental Defense helped craft the McDonald's, Compass USA and Bon Appetit policies.
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Founded in 1991, M&R Strategic Services ( http://www.mrss.com ) provides communications, direct mail, Internet advocacy, lobbying, media relations, research and strategic planning for both non-profit groups and corporate clients. M&R's direct mail and media team has also earned a national reputation for creative, winning persuasion mail, television and radio. The firm has offices in Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; Missoula, Mont.; Chicago, Ill.; Seattle, Wash.; New York City and Albany, N.Y. M&R maintains additional relationships with experienced political operatives in 40 states.
http://www.usnewswire.com
Toby Fallsgraff, 202-478-6184 (work) or
740-707-7413 (cellular) or tfallsgraff@mrss.com
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