Ad holding company IPG was among those hired to promote a controversial music festival in Saudi Arabia

• In December, the Saudi Arabian government organized MDL Beast, a three-day electronic music festival featuring celebrity DJs, models, actors, and influencers.
• Sources told Business Insider that Momentum, an agency that's part of US-based ad holding company IPG, was among those contracted to market the event, along with a London agency called LemonX.
• Attendees of the event, part of an effort to improve Saudi Arabia's image, were criticized because of the country's history of human rights abuse.
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As part of a yearlong effort to improve Saudi Arabia's image and promote it as a tourism destination, the country's government organized a three-day dance music festival called MDL Beast that ran from December 19-21. It featured celebrity DJs like Steve Aoki and David Guetta, and attracted 400,000 people, the government's official General Entertainment Authority (GEA) division said in a press release.

Business Insider has learned that multiple ad agencies were hired to market the event, whose attendees drew criticism because of the country's history of human rights abuse. Among them were Momentum Worldwide, which is part of US-based ad holding company IPG, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

Actors and influencers were accused of taking 'blood money' to attend festival

Influencers, actors, models, and publishers - including Armie Hammer, Alessandra Ambrosio, Ryan Phillippe, and Glamour UK - were paid to promote MDL Beast using hashtags like #MDLBeastbrandambassadors. According to the festival's official website, sponsors included Pepsi, Lay's, and Cadillac.

The event and attendees were criticized by journalists, human rights experts, and influencers like Diet Prada, a fashion and culture commentary Instagram account, and GQ columnist Phillip Picardi. Critics pointed to the country's human rights abuses including the imprisonment of government critics such as Raif Badawi and the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi - a killing that the CIA concluded was likely ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Model Emily Ratajkowski tweeted that she went public with her decision to turn down an invitation to the festival to highlight such "injustices." Washington Post opinion editor Karen Attiah, who worked closely with Khashoggi, accused the influencers and DJs of accepting "blood money."

A spokesperson for Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

IPG's Momentum Worldwide was subcontracted by a firm that it said worked with 'private companies' based in Saudi Arabia

Two sources close to IPG who are known to Business Insider but spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the London office of Momentum Worldwide, a division of IPG's McCann Worldgroup network that focuses on events, was subcontracted by another agency called LemonX to handle public relations and on-the-ground support for the festival.

Spokespeople for IPG and Momentum Worldwide have not responded to requests for comment.

In an IPG press release obtained by Business Insider, a Momentum employee pitched images and videos from MDL Beast to media outlets the day after the festival ended.

Christopher Perry, co-founder of London agency The Studio of Art and Commerce and LemonX, which was incorporated in September, about three months before the event, confirmed that LemonX was hired by private companies in Saudi Arabia to market MDL Beast.

"LemonX worked as a production and marketing subcontractor to support what was the first-ever music festival in Saudi Arabia," he said.

Asked multiple times if he subcontracted work for the festival to IPG agencies, Perry didn't address the question.

Perry said neither of his agencies has ever had the Saudi Arabian government or the GEA as a client, stating, "Both companies work internationally including work for private companies in KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] where the purpose is to deliver change."

Perry would not name those companies or elaborate on the work in question. Business Insider was unable to determine who the paying client was in this case, since KSA planned, organized, and promoted the festival, and the website of MDL Beast Media House, the content hub managed by LemonX, refers only to the event itself.

A former LemonX employee whose identity is known to Business Insider but spoke on condition of anonymity said the firm and its sister agency do not publicize their work for Saudi Arabian clients because it is "obviously controversial."

Saudia Arabia's government heavily promoted the festival as a key example of modernization efforts in the country

Since bin Salman was appointed Crown Prince in 2017, he has positioned himself as a change agent, promising to end longtime bans on movie theaters, female drivers, and mixed-gender concerts. He has also been the subject of controversy. Recent reports claimed that he hacked the phone of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, in 2018, though the paper's editorial board now says that is not entirely clear.

The General Entertainment Authority, established in 2016, has played a key role in that change. In the January 2019 announcement laying out its strategy for the forthcoming year, GEA chairman Turki bin Abdulmohsen Al Sheikh emphasized the cultural and financial importance of hosting major entertainment and sporting events in the country.

Later in 2019, the kingdom launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign intended to promote electronic visas to would-be tourists and invited Instagram influencers to document their paid visits to the country. The efforts attracted backlash, with some reports about problems with the via program's rollout and some critics mentioning the large number of executions carried out by the government last year.

The IPG press release on the MDL Beast festival quoted bin Abdulmohsen Al Sheikh and "one elated festival guest" who was quoted as saying, "We are truly witnessing a big change in this country - we know it won't happen overnight, but MDL Beast has played a huge part in the next chapter of this country."

IPG is not the only holding company that has worked for organizations associated with the Saudi Arabian government.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the kingdom hired PR firm Qorvis Communications to improve its image. That firm, which was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2014, still counts Saudi Arabia as a client, stating on its website that its work includes "educating America about Saudi Arabia."

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