Japan’s Fuji Photo Film asked its advertising agency to develop an image campaign for the United States. At the time, Fuji was embroiled in a trade dispute with Kodak. Fuji had also invested more than $1 billion in U.S. production facilities and had won a long-term photofinishing contract with Wal-Mart. The campaign was designed to appeal both to Wal-Mart and to the giant retailer’s customers; as a Wal-Mart spokesman said, “We’ve long said we buy American when we can. The more people understand how American Fuji is, the better.”
In 1995, Japanese car marketers hired Hill & Knowlton to create a public relations campaign designed to convince then-President Bill Clinton that his plan to impose 100 percent tariffs on 13 luxury cars was ill-advised and could even cost him California’s 54 electoral votes in the 1996 election. Nissan and other companies also sent position papers and information packets to dealers and the media. Interviews with representatives from auto dealers were carried by both print and electronic media. Within weeks, the Clinton administration announced that the U.S. and Japan had reached an agreement. No sanctions were imposed and the American International Automobile Dealers Association. was able to claim an important victory.