DeSmog
Background
According to its agency profile at O’Dwyers, “APCO Worldwide is a global communications consultancy” with clients including “large multinational companies, trade associations, governments, NGOs and educational institutions” and has offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
APCO started in 1984 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Arnold & Porter, a law firm that initially worked closely with Philip Morris tobacco and went on to service a wider range of clients inside and outside the tobacco industry. In 1991, the group was acquired from Arnold & Porter by the media firm Grey Communications International (GCI), which made it a subsidiary of Grey Advertising. GCI later became Grey Global. [3], [4]