Advertising Industry Archive

Procter & Gamble’s new CEO, Robert McDonald, is probably not much of an entrepreneur, judging by his resume. Rather, he’s an institutions man. He’s comfortable with large, structured, pre-existing organizations that already have well-established org-charts. And now he controls the largest ad budget in a world that looks very little like the company that has succored him...

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U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., has sponsored a bill that would “preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany.” The too-loud-commercial problem is the bane of TV watchers’ existence: The actual show is set at a reasonable volume, and then before you know it Vince Shlomi is screaming at you about how you’ll love his...

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The Church of Scientology has launched an ad campaign on CNN, according to Gawker. The ad shows a bunch of white and Asian people lost in the anomie of everyday life — looking out of the window during a school exam, surrounded by a crowd at Grand Central in New York — as a thoughful voiceover intones: We’re all looking for it … that unexplainable emptiness that can only...

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News America Marketing vp/business operations Tom Leprine testified that companies which did not accept its bundled deals on in-store supermarket ads and newspaper coupons got higher prices. The testimony came in a Michigan state court trial in which newspaper coupon agency Valassis accuses News America of using its supermarket ad monopoly to require advertisers to also use News America...

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Six Flags has stiffed Roto Graphic Printing Inc. for nearly $71,000 in unpaid bills, according to this list of the bankrupt amusement park’s top 20 creditors. Media buyer Mindshare is owed $59,000. Missing from the list — meaning it is owed less than $33,000 — is Ogilvy & Mather, Six Flags’ creative agency. Six Flags filed  Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in...

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The 450 staff at BBDO Detroit are about to “enjoy” two weeks of forced unpaid vacation as the agency scrambles to save money, AgencySpy reports. Tribble adds that the move will save BBDO about 36,000 payable wage hours. The move comes after BNET noted in April that Omnicom CFO Randy Weisenberger hinted there would be further layoffs at his network, which lost  $685 million in cash...

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Valassis lost share of the newspaper coupon business to News America Marketing because it raised prices during the recession of 2002, not because it was forced out by anticompetitive practices, lawyers for NAM are arguing in a trial between the two companies. Plus, Valassis is fudging its numbers by leaving Procter & Gamble out of its analyses, News America claims. Most damaging to Valassis...

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Lamar Advertising, CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel Outdoor have all agreed not to sell billboard space to World Net Daily, a conservative news site that believes President Obama does not have a U.S. birth certificate. WND has raised $75,000 to put up outdoor ads that say, “Where’s the birth certificate?” (pictured). The “ban” isn’t surprising because Obama was,...

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Jessica Alba will not be prosecuted for her role in vandalizing a Lamar Advertising billboard in a stunt to raise awareness of the dwindling great white shark, according to the AP. The actress had plastered a Lamar board — being used by charity group United Way — with a giant picture of a great white. The protest was organized by blogger White Mike, who travels the country...

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Account reps for News America Marketing could face some uncomfortable meetings and phone calls with their clients over the next few weeks, because dozens of their clients’ names have been dragged into the ongoing Michigan state court trial in which the agency is accused of forcing its customers to take anti-competitive bundled deals on in-store promos and newspaper coupons. The News...

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