Advertising Industry Archive

Donny Deutsch screams for revenge as recession hits people he knows (i.e. the super rich) — Bernie Madoff is a “serial killer,” former adman turned gazillionaire Deutsch told Jim Cramer during Mad Money Thursday, who “belongs in a cage tomorrow.” “He didn’t do it with homicide,” Deutsch continued, “but do we let serial killers out on bail?” The parents of Deutsch’s...

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Publicis boss Maurice Levy is not backing down in his ongoing spat with WPP chief Martin Sorrell. This is what he said in an interview with the FT regarding Sorrell’s suggestion that Publicis should take over Interpublic: Such a deal was the “fantasy of a little Englishman trying to stir things up”, Mr Lévy said. “This man is more interested in the affairs of other...

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The British Advertising Standards Authority has forced an atheist group to alter their advertising campaign to assert that “There’s probably no god.” Originally, the British Humanist Association wanted to run a campaign on London buses stating “There is no god.” But, as the LA Times reports, The biggest kerfuffle has been over the word “probably” in the...

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UPDATE — Chrysler will shift its TV dollars to spot TV from national TV, another indicator that major clients will be resisiting high prices at the upfronts. Network TV ad sales chiefs are delusional — or they’re evil geniuses. Despite the recession decimating their clients’ advertising budgets, and despite huge declines in viewing audiences, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox are...

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Abbott Laboratories shortlists agencies in Asia — The US pharmaceutical company is reviewing its $20 million regional media duties. OMG’s PHD and Interpublic Group’s Initiative are reported to be involved in all the markets, while ZenithOptimedia and MEC are involved in some markets. [Source: Brand Republic] Ex-Y&R Exec Goldsmith Resurfaces — More than two decades after...

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British authorities have ordered a company advertising a nasal spray that promises longer-lasting sex to take down 196 billboards. The ads break U.K. law, according to the Guardian, because a medical prescription is required to obtain the spray. Drugs are banned from being advertised in Britain. The campaign was also the subject of complaints from the public because the ads consisted of a...

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Another day, another round of layoffs in ad agency land. BBDO in Bangkok laid off 20 people, according to Brand Republic. And Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos in Boston laid off 10 people, less than 3 percent of its staff, according to the Boston Business Journal. (Side note: The BR report is illustrated, inexplicably, with a hand reaching out of a bed for a cactus.) In what is probably a more...

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Cyrus Mehri’s report on race discrimination in the advertising agency business finds that blacks make 20 percent less than whites, and are under-represented by half at all levels of the industry. But is his report going to lead to the big class-action lawsuit that he’s hoping to create? A close reading of the report reveals a number of flaws. Mehri’s press conference yesterday...

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France wants ban on cellphone ads for kids — It’s not to make them pay attention to their homework or even to ensure that they stop texting while riding their bicycles along scenic French roadways. The proposed law was motivated by legislators’ concerns about the effects of cellphone usage on kids’ developing bodies. [Source: LA Times] First Brit creative to receive...

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With the shock of the $20 million fraud scandal at Leo Burnett now 48 hours old, it’s time to assess the sheer scale of the stupidity which led to the $15.5 million settlement the agency paid to avoid being sued by the feds. The agency itself said this to the WSJ: “Leo Burnett believes the government’s claims are without merit,” the company said. It also said the...

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