Rod Blagojevich speaks to advertising, PR execs about re-building trust after his name came under attack

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(PR NewsChannel) / September 28, 2010 / NEW YORK / The former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich talked to the nation's leading advertising and PR executives about the steps he's taking to rebuild public trust after his reputation came under attack.

Since his arrest in 2009 on charges of corruption, the governor has been in the eye of the 'trust' storm.  Blagojevich has steadfastly, and very publicly, denied each and every allegation and says they are false. He's done multiple television interviews and even appeared on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."

"I'm selling my innocence," Blagojevich told the audience. "I'm still trying to get on every mountaintop I can find... My reputation, my integrity have been under attack and under assault."

The former governor of Illinois believes that he made the right move when went public--even though one of his lawyers quit over it.

"When your product is under assault and you believe in your product, you fight not flight," said Blagojevich.

The governor revealed to the audience that he will go from the event to tape a national TV commercial.

"You have to make a living," says Blagojevich.

His PR rep, Glenn Selig, founder of The Publicity Agency (www.thepublicityagency.com) and who was with the governor at the event, has been with Blagojevich during his multiple TV and public appearances, and believes the national TV commercial is a sign that the governor is successfully rebuilding trust, even though he still faces another trial.

"People he encounters on the streets tell him that they believe in him and want to see him succeed," says Selig.  "He needed to pursue a very public campaign to undo some of the damage that had been done to him.  It has never been about making him into something that he's not but helping people understand who, in fact, he is rather than what prosecutors and his political enemies portrayed him to be." 

Sponsors of the "Trust Forum" in New York City invited Blagojevich to be a featured guest to speak on the subject.

Neither Blagojevich nor Selig would reveal details of the commercial.

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SOURCE: The Publicity Agency

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