Joe Jaffe, rightly, condemns the recent request by Hilton Hotels that agencies give up their rights to all material created for the hotel's $45 million agency review. Calling the request bullshit, Jaffe calls the requirement "highway robbery and the worst possible insult to every last bit of integrity left in the ad business to have ideas from losing contenders implemented down the line."
While many in the industry will do whatever it takes to win new business, Jaffe commends BBDO and Goody for refusing to comply with the ridiculous request and suggest the collective industry reply to a client request such is this should be a resounding "fuck you!"
Making it clear Monster, unsurprisingly, was already speaking to other agencies prior to its dumping Deutsch, the job site has, two weeks after dropping Deutsch, launched a new campaign created by Boston-based Brand Content which had, earlier, done project work for Monster. The campaign will consist of television commercials, and new website features.
Brand Content was formed by Doug Gladstone who previously worked with Monster while at other agencies. Like PictureTel (now part of Polycom), Monster's one of those Boston-based accounts that, if you've worked at an area agency, you've worked on Monster. We did our stint on the account too.
Esquire magazine asked top ad agencies in San Francisco, New York and Columbus, Ohio, "How do you rejuvenate the Democratic Party?" Their three answers, published in the magazine's June "The Cure for Everything" feature, include shortening "Democrats" to "Dems" (Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners), adding a word to the first line of the Constitution (Goodby, Silverstein & Partners), and blending the "conservative" and "liberal" colors, red and blue, to illustrate unity in America.
more »
Mad Injection, a division of New York agency Mad Dogs & Englishmen, facing closure at the end of May, placed an ad on eBay welcoming bids to buy the shop. With an ad that reads, in part, "This entire agency can be yours. Just incorporate their brand within your's, give the principals a reasonable employment contract, take good care of them ...and the creative benefits you receive are sure to be endlessly exhilarating," the agency is looking to get $10 million but will take closer to $1 million. For all those interested, bidding closes May 28.
This week's account loss for Deutsch is Monster.com who told the agency it no longer required or desired its creative services and will move them to an undisclosed location. Yes, folks, the Donny candle is, sadly, dimming. That Speedo. The separation. All those other clients who bailed. What's next? Donny looks to Donald Trump for a job on "Apprentice 4"?
Stereotyping advertising professionals perfectly, Alex Blagg exponentially magnifies the well known traits of the advertising rock star in a post called, "I Work In Advertising, Goddammit!" Eluding to advertising's favorite whipping boy, Blagg mocks the self-importance of advertising types writing, "What do you mean, you won't go home with me? I have the coolest job in the world because I am the coolest person in the world. Do you understand what that means, you hot little piece of Asian action?"
Of course, it doesn't stop there as Blagg eloquently pulls out stereotype after stereotype closing with, "Do you have any idea how much money I'm responsible for? My accounts total up to, like, a bajillion dollars! Do you know what kind of Q1 sales I did? I'll show you the fucking numbers. I spend all day figuring out ingenious ways to scare or trick people into buying shit they don't need - and I'm brilliant at it! You know those pop-up ads you can never get rid of? Those were MY IDEA...now let me fuck you.
Formerly developed by Rockstar and now, apparently, under the roof of bam! entertainment, street violence game State of Emergency 2 will be released this Summer. Someone sent us a link to this commercial, created by a company called The Phage, promoting the game which, according to a source at The Phage who recently posted the ad, was created a year ago. The source says Rockstar is still a client of The Phage but would not go into details as to why his company appeared to be promoting a game that is no longer "owned" by their client, Rockstar. Either there's some weird politics going on or, perhaps, bam! entertainment and Rockstar are combining forces in some way. We'll let the game blogs figure that one out.
Realizing that advertising isn't brain surgery and with the drollest of droll voices, visitors to ADD Marketing are introduced to what is certainly one of oddest agency websites seen in recent memory. Droning on, an announcer says, "You've reached ADD Marketing and Advertising, Inc. You're call is very important to us. So important we've put you on hold. Your estimated hold time is...long. So while you're waiting, let's talk about ADD. ADD stands for attention deficit disorder. If you think you have this illness and are seeking treatment, please call a professional. Not that we're not professionals, it's just different. ADD is a Los Angeles-based advertising agency strategically located in the low rent part of Hollywood. We're cheap but out rates are not." Refreshing, to say the least, compared to most other agency websites.
The attention deficit disorder shtick is a dead on reference to the mental state caused by the continual onslaught of media attacking people in every corner of their life, every second of the day. The agency has done work for P & G's Tremor, Mazda and all kinds of movie distributors.
Our very creative friends in Miami, Crispin Porter + Bogusky have signed a first-look deal with FOX Television Studios under which FOX gets first right of refusal on CP+B's program ideas. While we love CP+B's commercial work, let's hope this deal doesn't lead to long form commercials passed of as television programs. Oh wait, I forgot about The Apprentice, Survivor, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and, oh, just about every other program currently airing.
 Agencies Suck Over at the Adrants Soflow Network group, Robert Loch posted a quote from vacuum man Richard Dyson in which he claims suits are useless and creatives stink. Dyson said, "The agency business just isn't working for me. I don't want to talk to account planners, and account managers and these other assorted suits. I need to talk to the 'creatives' directly, and explain to them what I am trying to achieve. But they won't come to meetings because they are 'creative.'
"And the fact is that they are not creative at all. They are doing the very worst thing you can do, which is to sit staring at a drawing board trying to come up with an idea out of nowhere. You need dialogue to create. Of all the creative jobs I have encountered it is advertising people who make the most song and dance about creativity. And, you know, they are not creative at all. When I think of the real creation that my designers are involved in, and compare it with these 'creatives' who are earning so much more to just sit around the Groucho Club and be generally useless, it makes me vomit. I can't go on supporting an industry like that, I'm afraid."
What do you think. Comment here or see what others have said in the forum (yes, I know it's a pain, you have to join).
|
|
