DCI: Tobacco PR firm creates fake health care group

onAug 18, 2009 @ 18:21 PDT

DCI Group, a PR firm that got its start by creating phony grassroots organizations on behalf of big tobacco, has been outed by ThinkProgress as the firm behind the new anti-health care Astroturf group, the Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights (Infamous Astroturf Lobbying Firm Behind New Anti-Health Reform Group).

DeSmog readers might remember DCI from a sleazy set-up job in 2006, when the firm created a YouTube video attacking Al Gore and then posted it claiming that it was the work of an independent 29-year-old. ThinkProgress also itemizes some of DCI’s other adventures, many of which also involve setting up fake “grassroots” organizations that do the bidding of DCI’s big-budget clients.

By Richard Littlemore

Q&A: This Comedy Series Is Taking Aim at Big Oil’s PR Machine

ByEllen Ormesher

onSep 14, 2026 @ 11:01 PDT

SLICK is a funny yet cutting satire of how the ad industry contributes to the climate crisis.

Series: Holding the Advertising and Public Relations Industry Accountable for Greenwash and Climate Misinformation

Series: Advertising & PR Industry

Analysis

Majority of Planned Alberta Data Centre Projects Could be Under Foreign Control

ByMitch Anderson

onSep 14, 2026 @ 07:05 PDT

DeSmog analysis finds less than one third of planned projects could have full Canadian control over data.

Carbon Capture Is Booming. So Is the Push to Shift Oversight to States

BySarah Hofmann

onSep 11, 2026 @ 10:36 PDT

As hundreds of CO2 storage wells move toward development, the EPA is handing more regulatory authority to states — despite concerns about safety and long-term liability.