The Bush Administration spent $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars on 137 contracts with ad agencies since mid-2003, according to a Government Accountability Office report released by House Democrats Tuesday, writes AdWeek, adding that the figure reaches $1.6 billion when PR and other media are added. The top six recipients were Leo Burnett USA, $536 million; Campbell-Ewald, $194 million; GSD&M, $179 million; JWT, $148 million; Frankel, $133 million; and Ketchum, $78 million.
One of last year's political scandals involved Ketchum (the Department of Education paid a commentator $250,000 to promote "No Child Left Behind"), but most of the contracts were on the up-and-up, won through the government review process.
Spending on contracts with public relations firms increased to $88 million in 2004, from $39 million in 2000 - a 128 percent increase. The PR and ad contracts included providing "expert advice and support in the development of several marriage-related research initiatives," and a contract regarding "message development that presents the Army's strategic perspective in the global war on terrorism."
