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WPP chief accused by Scientologists
Daily Telegraph, 21 June 1991
JONATHAN CONFINO in New York THE Church of SCIENTOLOGY has accused WPP chairman Martin Sorrell of masterminding a plot to discredit the controversial religious group. The bizarre allegation has been made as part of a dollars 2m advertising campaign that seeks to undermine the credibility of a cover story in Time magazine that accused the SCIENTOLOGY group of being a 'cult of greed'. The Scientologists, who claim to have 400,000 members in Britain, have accused Mr Sorrell of using his influence to pressure Time into running the article. Mr Sorrell refused to comment yesterday but Time has dismissed the allegations as 'laughable'. A 29-page advertisement in USA Today claims WPP's clients account for 15 pc of Time's advertising revenue. 'That kind of money has influence,' it says. Heber Jentzch, president of the Church of SCIENTOLOGY International, yesterday said: 'Mr Sorrell used his advertising dollars to get the article in Time magazine. 'But for his intervention, the article would not have appeared. There's no question it was planted.' Mr Jentzch claims that WPP's precarious financial position led to Mr Sorrell acting on behalf of major advertising client Eli Lilly, whose antidepressant drug Prozac has been blamed by the church for several suicides. The church's relentless campaign against the drug has led to a decline in Lilly's share price and a drop in sales. The USA Today advertisement said WPP had acted for Lilly because 'entire companies can evaporate with the loss of a major client'. Mr Jentzch claims Lilly called Mr Sorrell to its Indianapolis HQ to put pressure on him to get 'an article' printed about the church. The church has also accused WPP's public relations firm Hill & Knowlton of dropping it as a client under pressure from Lilly. Despite Chinese walls between the various parts of the WPP empire, Lilly does admit to being unhappy about Hill & Knowlton's involvement. 'We told him (Mr Sorrell) we found it intolerable to do business with people who would do business with people of the ilk of SCIENTOLOGY,' a Lilly spokesman said.
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