PHARMA: Merck gets PR makeover at opportune time?

You know that this is one of those things that's just an unfortunate coincidence, but the headline in my in-box says that "Merck Hires B-M to Rebuild Image". B-M is Burson-Marsteller, a huge PR agency and part of the WPP Group that Merck is using for advertising too. But I just had to laugh when given what happened on Friday, this is dated Saturday 20th August and they say this:

Although Merck remains embroiled in the after-effects of the high- profile global recall of arthritis drug Vioxx, the company insists the campaign has been in development for more than two years.

You know this press release was in the works for some time, and you just have to laugh at the serendipity of it coming out straight after the verdict goes the wrong way.