White House cribs copy from Exxon Mobil
A Trump administration press release cheers the petroleum giant’s announcement of a $20 billion investment program. Some of the wording was supplied by the company itself.
Surely every PR pro who ever issued a press release has hoped the organization’s news would be spread far and wide.
Still, it was probably beyond the wildest dreams of copywriters at Exxon Mobil to find part of the company copy repeated in a White House press release.
A statement from President Donald Trump on Monday congratulated the multinational petroleum company, lifting several sentences directly from a press release issued the same day, multiple news organizations reported.
The cribbing of copy set off groans of exasperation on Twitter, rebukes from journalists and an avalanche of negative stories for what journalists were describing as an unforced error by the administration.
Exxon Mobile, however, stated that the practice was commonplace in previous administrations and among other companies. They offered no specifics.
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