In a message dated 10/1/00 7:18:02 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >The scripts were submitted as part of a deal under which TV networks received > > >millions of dollars worth of financial credits for including positive > >anti-drug messages in their shows.
http://www.foxnews.com/elections/093000/ogilvymather.sml White House Plays Hardball In Ad Payment Dispute Saturday, September 30, 2000 NEW YORK — The White House is withholding millions of dollars in payments to a major advertising firm after allegations that the firm may have overbilled the government for its work on a media campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday. The White House drug-policy office, which oversees the media campaign aimed at discouraging young people from using drugs, has held back about $13.5 million in payments on $187 million that has been billed by the firm, Ogilvy & Mather, according to officials cited by the newspaper. A consultant hired by the White House to assess the charges found that Ogilvy's costs, particularly for labor, were "dramatically higher than even the high end of what is standard industry practice," according to an internal government memorandum cited by The Times. Officials of the White House agency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said there was no evidence that the company had engaged in fraud, the newspaper said. Howard G. Paster, a spokesman for Ogilvy, said it was routine for bills to be negotiated. He said the company expected to be paid for its work and did not expect a significant reduction in billing. The General Accounting Office began an inquiry into the contract in July, Robert H. Hass, the director of the office, told The Times. Hass said the agency has begun a full financial audit of the contract. Ogilvy is the primary government contractor in an anti-drug advertising and education effort called the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The campaign, which began in 1998, is expected to cost nearly $1 billion over five years. The campaign was criticized earlier this year, when it became known that popular television shows were submitting their scripts to the White House drug office. The scripts were submitted as part of a deal under which TV networks received millions of dollars worth of financial credits for including positive anti-drug messages in their shows.
