Corporate W**** Rick Berman Smacked Down by Court for Anti-Health Care Ad
Michael Whitney // Work in Progress (Firedoglake Blog)December 18, 2009
It's nice to see the purveyors of corporate activism get their comeuppance.
A federal court ordered the latest Rick Berman front group to take down its anti-healthcare ad because of trademark violations. Berman's group falsely claimed several doctors' groups opposed "government health care," and those groups weren't too happy.
The American College of Surgeons filed a complaint in Illinois' Northern District alleging that the Employee Freedom Action Committee - one of a host of groups run by lobbyist Rick Berman - had violated trademark law and defamed the group by including the College of Surgeons on a scrolling list headed "Doctors Against the Plan."
A plastic surgeons' group also complained of the ad, which was based on a December 1 letter from surgical associations saying they opposed the bill as it was then written; the groups now say they're waiting to see its final form. A Berman aide argued that the ad accurately characterized the groups' positions.
The ad was run by the "Committee to Rethink Reform," a 501(c)4 not required to disclose its donors.
While the ad has been removed from the front group's YouTube channel, you can see the original version above.
Chalk this incident up as yet another blatantly false attack from Rick Berman, who major corporations use as their sock puppet to push ideas like "pregnant women shouldn't worry about eating mercury," "secondhand smoke doesn't cause cancer," and "we should lower the drunk driving levels because it's not really a big deal." While those aren't direct quotes, the ideas have all been advocated by Berman or his front groups.
Case in point: the spokeswoman Berman trotted out to defend this blatantly false ad, Sarah Longwell, is also the same spokesperson he uses to defend the tanning bed industry.
Update: the copied video has also been removed, but you can still see the still above.
Richard Berman has been a regular front man for business and industry in campaigns against consumer safety and environmental groups. Through his public affairs firm, Berman and Company, Berman has fought unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, PETA and other watchdog groups in their efforts to raise awareness about obesity, the minimum wage, the dangers of smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, and other causes. Berman runs at least 15 industry-funded front groups and projects, such as the Center for Union Facts and holds 16 "positions" in those organizations.
Each year, Berman, using his front groups to spread misinformation, spends millions of dollars distracting the public with misleading ads.
As a result of his largesse, in 2006, Richard Berman used $2,000,000 in cash to buy this $3.3 million house.
