Tribble Ad Agency : The Advertising Agency of Record

The account puts BVK in the middle of extreme political controversy. Citgo is an arm of the government-owned oil company in Venezuela, where president Hugo Chavez has been a vocal critic of U.S. policies and is a close friend of Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

When Chavez branded President Bush “the devil” in a speech at the United Nations last year, it sparked calls for a boycott of Citgo.

It’s crisis management that BVK isn’t prepared to handle.

When asked, BVK president Michael Voss said his agency had indeed won the Citgo account, but would say nothing else.

The last thing the agency needs is to be involved in a international controversy where it’s arguable that the company might not have the resources to counter. It’s been accused of ‘taking money from the enemy’ in some of the more conservative US quarters.

Scary thought for BVK to be in, this one account might not be worth it, considering the Citgo account is now only worth under $6 million from nearly $17 million last year.

Sometimes, A PR firm does not need this type of PR.