Among other things, H&K is known for their propaganda.
Hill & Knowlton Controversies
Hill & Knowlton has generated a fair amount of controversy. Numerous PR campaigns, on behalf of both governments and private industry appear to violate both industry ethics and civil statutes. In 1991, Hill & Knowlton received $14 million from countries known to abuse human rights, including China, Peru, Indonesia, and Egypt. They have also taken on cases that dealt with corporate crime, including the El Paso natural gas case and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International case. The company has been involved in possible government conspiracies including the alleged October Surprise and has worked for the CIA in cases where overseas offices acted as covers for US agents.
Another controversial issue is the use of propaganda by Hill & Knowlton. Since the 1930s, public relations and propaganda have merged into a profitable business, with H&K making up to $350 per hour. This increased revenue gives them the funds and ability to influence public opinion. Several examples show their use of propaganda on behalf of clients:
* In 1953, Members of the Tobacco Industry hired the firm to help counteract recent scientific findings that suggested cigarette smoking led to cancer. As a result “A Frank Statement” was released to nearly every major newspaper and magazine, misleading readers into believing that cigarettes had no verifiable links to cancer.
* In 1990, on behalf of the US-funded and US-directed Citizens for a Free Kuwait, H&K researched and then created stories and “eye-witness” testimonies that described Iraqi atrocities that would build public support for Desert Storm. These "eye-witnesses" were presented to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and included the fraudulent "Nurse Nayirah" testimony that played a major role in involving the US in the Gulf War. She testified that she had witnessed Iraqi soldiers killing hundreds of premature babies at the al-Addan hospital in Kuwait City. "They took the babies out of the incubators, took the incubators, and left the babies on the cold floor to die," she said. Congressmen were stunned. It was only after Desert Storm had officially ended that ABC reporter John Martin discovered that the none of these tales of atrocities were true. "Nayirah" was actually the daughter of the royal family member Saud Nasir al-Sabaah, the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States. Without Hill & Knowlton's PR, the Gulf War would not have been as favorable to Americans. Much is made that at this time H&K's Washington office was headed by Craig Fuller, the former chief of staff and good friend of George Bush, Sr.
* Coppertone, a company that creates and sells sun care products, enlisted H&K in 1994 in order to boost profit. H&K exagerated scientific reports of a depleted ozone layer to encourage the general public to protect themselves from skin cancer by using Coppertone's products.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_%26_Knowlton#Controversies