But there's no question that the issue gave Geithner a big public-relations problem.
(Some companies are offering cash carrots to smokers. Edelman, a big public relations firm, pays more than $500 to smokers who quit).
And it might turn out to be a big public-relations ploy on both sides, as Mike Freeman writes on CBSSports.com.com
"Even on a busy day I try to put some little nonprofit on that cannot afford a big public relations firm and wants coverage," he said.
Mr. Finn, chief executive of Ruder Finn, a big public relations firm, has fashioned figures out of paper clips roughly since he quit smoking 50 years ago.
This is not the first time a multinational corporation appears to have underreacted to a limited product problem that turned into a big public relations headache, said Stephen A. Greyser, a professor emeritus of marketing at the Harvard Business School.
AT&T therefore must play a strong political game, one that is likely to involve a big public relations push to convince regulators that the deal will deliver an enhanced customer experience while improving access to wireless services.
During the 1980s, the strong anti-apartheid lobby in America, combined with federal, state and local trade sanctions, made the prospect of investing in South Africa a big public-relations risk.
The report resulted in a big public relations problem for the company, raising questions not only about the level of sophistication of SpinVox's technology, but also about potential privacy breaches.
She had worked at Hill & Knowlton, a big public relations firm, representing technology companies -- her résumé lists Microsoft, Olympus and Motorola, among others -- and was laid off shortly after 9/11.
