View source for Harold Burson

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'''Harold Burson''' founded, and was was chairman and President of the public relations firm of [[Burson-Marsteller]] (BM).

Burson Marsteller has had a long working relationship with [[Philip Morris]], and helped them establish and operate the smokers rights front group, the [[National Smokers Alliance]].

On a visit to Australia in 1998 Burson told Paul McIntyre of ''The Australian'', "I'm totally opposed to front organisations that do not disclose where their funding comes from and to my knowledge - we're a big company - we have never started or organised a group where the funding sponsorship was unknown." <ref> Paul McIntyre, "First doctor of spin", ''The Australian'', March 25 1999. </ref>

In 2006 a Der Spiegel journalist interviewed Burson and asked him about the role of [[Edward Bernays]] in shaping the course of modern PR. "Bernays thought that he could control public opinion. His methodology, of course, was fundamental. Most of the things we do today were identified by Bernays 80 years ago. He had brilliant ideas. I met him a few times, but didn’t like him. He was one of the most egocentric people I have ever met," Burson said. <ref>"[http://www.edelman.com/documents/Der_Spiegel_article_7.31.2006.doc Master of deception]", ''Der Spiegel'', July 31, 2006. </ref>

Asked about B-M's work for the Argentinian Department of Trade promoting foreign investment at the time of the military dictatorship he said "Had I known that I would still be defending our work in Argentina after 30 years, I wouldn't have accepted the military government as a client." <ref>"[http://www.edelman.com/documents/Der_Spiegel_article_7.31.2006.doc Master of deception]", ''Der Spiegel'', July 31, 2006. </ref>