When the National Rifle Association first sued PR and advertising firm Ackerman McQueen, we wondered how much longer the decades-old relationship between the two could survive. Now, more than a month later and after a flurry of accusations, more lawsuits and counter-suits, Ackerman has moved to terminate its relationship with the NRA.
As The Hill reports:
“Today, faced with the NRA’s many inexplicable actions that have constructively terminated the parties’ Services Agreement, Ackerman McQueen decided it is time to stand up for the truth, and formally provide a Notice to Terminate its almost four-decade long relationship with the National Rifle Association,” the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
As part of what it does for the NRA, Ackerman, of course, runs NRA TV which was the original source of the discord between the civil rights org and Ack-Mac. Ackerman employs many of the public faces that have come to be associated with the NRA such as Dana Loesch and Colion Noir. And now-former NRA President Oliver North was an Ackerman McQueen employee as well.
The split puts the future of NRA TV very much in doubt. A variety of MSM reports on the breakup say the move caught Ackerman employees and on-air talent off guard, but if they didn’t see this coming, they’ve been living under a very big rock for weeks.
The Ackerman move probably suits the NRA just fine. They had to have been looking for a way to cut Ack-Mac loose without any additional costs that might have accrued if the client had been the one to terminate the relationship.
And neither party can want to see the mutual lawsuits reach a courtroom, let alone the discovery phase. That probably wouldn’t have been good for either party.
Look for the legal actions to be quietly euthanized to both parties’ mutual satisfaction. More interesting times in Fairfax. Watch this space.