10022: Soapbox Standings.

The Advertising Age story spotlighting NYC Comptroller John Liu vs. Omnicom drew the stereotypical comments that always seem to surface during diversity discussions.

Lynn Klein from Sayville, New York wondered, “I’m sorry, how is any of this Liu’s business?”

Meanwhile, Mario McMillan from Devonport chipped in the expected rant:

“I thought advertising was meant to be creative, and its success lived or died on the ability to engage audiences. On merit. Isn’t that what made America great? Mandating how many of what kind of people your staff is composed of sounds like life under Stalin.

If agencies fail to connect with an increasingly diverse population, they will fail. That’s the market at work. You know, the underlying principle of American democracy?

It would therefore seem natural to employ at least some people from the groups you are trying to engage. But not necessarily. We’re talking about creativity here. Do I only like and respond to the creative output from people of my race, gender, age and culture?

People are not all the same, with the same ambitions, interests, skills and passions. The best creative people from one culture or race or gender might not be interested in the ad business to the extent of another. If you want to demand American ad firms have race or gender quotas, rather than their make-up be determined by market success or failure, go right ahead, Comrade.

Oh, and Sanford Moore: you can take your ravings about “countries who were colonial powers and where people of color are discriminated against in most areas of endeavor and participation” and shove ‘em. If that’s your attitude, why would anyone hire you?”

10021: Primping & Pimping For Omnicom.

Advertising Age reported on the action New York City Comptroller John C. Liu took against Omnicom, and the trade publication even coaxed Chief Diversity Officer Tiffany R. Warren to speak up. Here’s the relevant excerpt:

Tiffany Warren, chief diversity officer at Omnicom, spoke with Ad Age about the matter. She said that the holding company is making strides when it comes to recruiting and retaining multicultural talent, but that it simply doesn’t think it’s in Omnicom’s best interests to comply with the Comptroller’s request.

Ms. Warren said the company later this year will release a national report outlining some of its results in the diversity space. It will be the first time that the company, with help from Fleishman-Hillard, releases its diversity report independent of its report on corporate social responsibility.

“[Our report] is a national project, not local to New York City,” she said. It will “talk about how internal and external outreach has been” in addition to quantitative achievements regarding the agencies’ efforts in “bringing in and hiring, and also retaining diverse employees, as well as women.”

When asked why Omnicom doesn’t comply with the Comptroller’s latest request if it already plans on releasing some of its data, Ms. Warren referenced the company’s position on the matter which was included in its most recent proxy statement.

It said: “Data is neither informative nor is it a reliable measure of our commitment to equal opportunity employment. We do not believe that disclosing it will meaningfully further the goal of workplace diversity. To the contrary, this information, which is susceptible to misinterpretation, could be manipulated by those with interests adverse to Omnicom’s and harm the company.”

Gee, it’s a wonder Warren didn’t insert a plug for ADCOLOR® too. Can’t wait to catch the upcoming diversity report detailing how Omnicom is “bringing in and hiring, and also retaining diverse employees, as well as women.” Including women—which undoubtedly means White women—is probably the only way the holding company will be able to present positive figures. In deference to all of Warren’s groupies, MultiCultClassics will simply say her statements are appalling disappointing.

Meanwhile, the Ad Age piece drew a comment from Chief Pimp Exposer Sanford Moore:

As the individual who went to both Commissioner Gatling and Comptrollers Liu and Thompson regarding the historical discriminatory policies of the ad agency holding companies and their affiliates, I am not surprised by their refusal to comply with the Comptroller’s request. They have stonewalled on this issue since the first Human Rights Commission investigation in 1968. Only now, the Jim Crow policies of Mad Ave have been whitewashed by the success of “Mad Men.” Of the five major ad holding companies, three are owned by companies from countries who were colonial powers and where people of color are discriminated against in most areas of endeavor and participation. But now they are joined by the American-owned holding companies who pretend that they too are above the law, above equal treatment and opportunity for people of color. Only when these same consumers of color resist and affect the bottom lines of the agencies’ corporate clients and when the Comptroller liquidates the holdings by the NYC Pension Funds which contain monies from workers of color in the recalcitrant agencies will the arrogance of management be wiped from their collective faces. Maybe it’s time to stop asking and start bringing some financial pain to the holding companies and their enablers; the corporate clients who depend on the spending of consumers of color for their success in the American marketplace.

9996: Beer Bottle Chaser.

Advertising Age reported Dos Equis has suspended a new marketing campaign because bottle defects ignited a nationwide product recall. Lesser men drink beer straight from the bottle. The Most Interesting Man in the World drinks bottle straight from the beer.

New Marketing Push Yanked as Dos Equis Ambar Bottles Recalled

Small Bits of Glass Could Be in Beer

By E.J. Schultz

A month after premiering ads for Dos Equis Ambar, importer Heineken USA is suspending the spots as it deals with bottle defects that have prompted a recall in 43 states.

Six- and 12-packs are being removed from shelves because of a problem that could cause “small grains or particles of glass to separate from the inside lip of the bottle and fall into the liquid,” the importer said in a statement. No injuries have been reported, and the defect is estimated to be in “significantly less than 1%” of the recalled batches.

The importer must essentially pull and check all bottles on shelves now in the states, which include big markets such as New York, California, Illinois and Texas, potentially causing supply disruptions. Heineken USA is “working as quickly as possible to make sure we can backfill inventory as quickly as possible,” a spokeswoman told Ad Age. The importer pegged the defect on an unnamed third-party supplier and said that it was caught during routine inspections.

The recall comes at an especially inopportune time, because the importer is making a new marketing push on Ambar, a dark lager that accounts for about 30% of Dos Equis’ total sales. The brand for the first time is featured in TV spots as part of the Most Interesting Man in the World campaign. Only the Ambar versions of the ads will be pulled; regular Dos Equis ads will run as normal. The Ambar ads account for about 30% of the total Dos Equis media buy. The brand spent $21.9 million on measured media in 2011, according to Kantar Media.

The same defect also forced a smaller recall of low-profile brands Carta Blanca and Indio, a Mexican beer Heineken USA just brought to the states in limited distribution.

9969: Havas & Victors & Spoils.

Advertising Age reported Havas has acquired Victors & Spoils. “When an industry goes through a revolution, you can either sit and watch it happen or embrace the exciting new business models at the forefront of that revolution,” said David Jones, CEO of the Paris-based holding company. “Victors & Spoils is one of those new models that is challenging our entire industry, and I’m delighted to welcome them into the group.” Well, the French also view Jerry Lewis as a genius. But shouldn’t Havas make V&S work for free until they come up with something a client will buy? Let’s put the exciting new business model to the test.

Havas Acquires Victors & Spoils

French Holding Company Buys Majority Stake in Crowdsourcing Agency

By Rupal Parekh

Paris-based Havas has acquired a majority stake in Victors & Spoils—the creative agency built around crowdsourcing that has been a source of a lot of debate in adland for the past few years.

Terms were not disclosed.

Boulder, Co.-based Victors & Spoils was opened in 2009 by two former CP&B executives, John Winsor and Evan Fry, and Claudia Batten, who co-founded the gaming ad network Massive. The three continue to own a minority stake in the shop.

Also, Big Fuel CEO Jon Bond, one of the founders of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, is an investor in Victors & Spoils and will need to sell his shares, as it will now be part of a conflicting holding company, a representative for Mr. Bond said.

As part of the deal, Mr. Winsor remains CEO and becomes chief innovation officer at Havas.

According to people familiar with the situation, V&S and Havas have been in talks for the better part of a year.

During the past few years, V&S has worked with Harley-Davidson, General Mills, Dish Network, Gap and WD-40, among others, which are served ideas that are products of a “crowd” of 6,000 creatives who are managed via a digital platform. V&S has persuaded clients to work with the firm under the premise that their model offers marketing concepts and projects at lower cost than traditional agencies, and that has caused consternation as some creatives argue that the firm’s approach devalues the expertise of trained talent.

“When an industry goes through a revolution, you can either sit and watch it happen or embrace the exciting new business models at the forefront of that revolution,” said Havas CEO David Jones in a statement. “Victors & Spoils is one of those new models that is challenging our entire industry, and I’m delighted to welcome them into the group.”

Victors & Spoils will be in the Havas Worldwide business unit. In its statement, the companies said one of their first projects will be to use V&S’s proprietary technology to create a 15,000-person professional Havas “crowd” from which to source ideas for clients.

The move is the latest under Mr. Jones to reshape Havas. He recently announced the rebranding of creative network EuroRSCG to Havas Worldwide, which will take effect later this year. The V&S acquisition is the latest in a string of investments in smaller agencies, such as Colleen Decourcy’s social-media shop Socialistic and creative shop Camp & King.

9968: Unfinished Business With Blige & BK.

The Burger King-Mary J. Blige fiasco is getting crazier by the minute. According to Advertising Age, BK and Blige said the spot aired in an unfinished state. OK, but based on the quality of the companion campaign commercials, the “finished” version will essentially involve polishing a turd. Additionally, the scenario hints at potential racism. That is, the minority agencies got dumped in favor of a White shop that doesn’t even bother to present quality work for audiences of color. Maybe they figured selling fried chicken to Blacks was a slam dunk. Hell, they probably considered running the rough cut or animatic. Just play a hip-hop groove behind tabletop footage of the nasty chicken items and call it a day.

9958: Why Don’t Clients Demand Diversity?

Advertising Age reported on an ANA survey showing that 52% of clients will ask their advertising agencies to reduce internal costs over the coming year. Why are clients completely comfortable making demands on nearly every aspect of the business—and expecting agencies to comply without complaint—except when it involves diversity? Hell, clients could solve the dearth of diversity overnight. All they have to do is say, “Make it happen, White boys.”

ANA Survey: 52% of Marketers Will Ask Agencies to Lower Internal Costs

Brands Are Being Asked to Be Conservative With Spending

By Rupal Parekh

Marketing budgets haven’t changed drastically in the past year, yet brands are being asked to be highly conservative with spending, a new Association of National Advertisers study has found.

The spending survey, the sixth the ANA has conducted, was fielded in January via an online poll of its members. Nearly 250 client-side marketers responded.

The good news? Comparatively few plan to cut agency compensation—only 17% of all respondents, which is the lowest since 2008. Instead, they are asking agencies to look internally for ways of reducing costs. More than half (52%) of marketers surveyed will during the course of this year challenge their agencies to reduce costs internally.

In essence, that means marketers are asking agencies to share the burden of being cost-efficient. More marketers today are saying that they are under pressure to tightly manage their controllable spending; last year 77% of respondents said they were asked to control spending, and this year that number jumped to 84%.

“It’s not just marketers who are feeling the pinch,” said ANA President-CEO Bob Liodice in a statement. “All of our partners feel the impact of this year’s projected trends, as modest spending trends undoubtedly affect business processes throughout the supply chain.”

He added: “Though the industry outlook is trending toward stability, marketers need to be careful not to simply rely on short-term answers to solve enduring budget issues.”

Some of those short-term budget cuts that are being made to reduce overhead expenses include professional development and hiring of full-time talent. The survey found that 28% plan to lower investment in training of talent and attendance at conferences, while 21% are planning to use freelancers to fill open positions. The ANA stated that both figures were up from 2011 but was unable to immediately provide a comparative number.

Marketers are also planning to reduce costs in travel significantly—by 68%.

The respondents also said that they are toying with the media mix and using different marketing channels to try and lower costs. Despite the cautious environment, the survey found that nearly half of marketers surveyed (49%) will keep their ad budgets flat. For the 34% of companies that said they will reduce budgets, reductions are expected to be higher than last year, with 33% of those companies expecting to trim marketing budgets by 11% or more.

Some marketers out there are spared from the heat; 17% of respondents said they believe their advertising budgets are slated to go up.

9949: Pepsi Salutes Michael Jackson.

From Advertising Age…

Pepsi Partners With Michael Jackson Estate for Commemorative Packaging

Limited-Edition Package Coincides With 25th Anniversary of ‘Bad’

By Natalie Zmuda

Pepsi is paying homage to the King of Pop one more time.

The brand is working with Michael Jackson’s estate to create a limited-edition package featuring the singer, according to an executive close to the company. The package coincides with the 25th Anniversary of the “Bad” album, which was released on Aug. 31, 1987.

The package will be a 16 oz. can available in convenience stores and grocery stores around Memorial Day, according to Beverage Digest. The can, said to have a blue background with an image of Mr. Jackson dancing, is expected to cost 99 cents. Pepsi declined to comment.

Pepsi sponsored the 1988 Bad World Tour. The tour spanned 16 months, with 123 concerts in 15 countries attended by 4.4 million fans. It was the largest-grossing tour in history and the one with the largest audience.

The brand’s relationship with Mr. Jackson dates to 1984 and the “New Generation” campaign. The singer’s hair caught fire during a commercial shoot that was part of that campaign. Mr. Jackson appeared in a number of ads for the brand over the years, performing versions of “Billie Jean” and “Bad,” among other songs.

Pepsi has a long association with music but has been emphasizing it in the past year. It poured $60 million into a sponsorship of “X Factor,” Simon Cowell’s music competition, and featured the show’s winner, Melanie Amaro, in a Super Bowl spot. The tagline for the ad, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day was “Where there’s Pepsi, there’s music.”

Earlier this week, Pepsi confirmed to Ad Age its relationship with singer Nicki Minaj, who is said to be appearing in a new global campaign for the brand.

9948: Banning Hoodies.

The comment thread for the Advertising Age story on Daniel Maree, the McCann staffer who helped kick-start the New York 1,000,000 Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin, featured a peculiar statement:

McCann Staffer,
Those of us who have children in the real world know that their schools prohibit “hoodies” as part of their dress code. Did you know that? Do you know why?

Old Ad Guy
Bloomfield Hills, MI

A quick Google search showed that some schools have indeed banned hoodies from the student dress code. However, the explanation is that kids were concealing their cell phones in the big pockets and texting each other during classes. Is there more to it than that? And why did Old Ad Guy feel the need to point it out in such cryptic fashion?

9943: American Made Exclusivity.

Advertising Age reported on three former CP+B executives launching a new agency. Made will specialize in “supporting a resurgence in American manufacturing.” But in true American advertising fashion, the staffers do not appear to reflect The New America—so don’t expect any assistance for African American, Asian American, Latino American or Native American businesses. Only in America.

Trio of CP&B Execs Launches Shop to Support American Companies

Breakaway Agency, Made, Will Promote USA-Built Brands

By Rupal Parekh

Three executives from MDC Partners’ CP&B—Dave Schiff, Scott Prindle and John Kieselhorst—are breaking away to form Made, an agency billed as the first marketing firm focused on supporting a resurgence in American manufacturing.

The trio, who say they will specialize in brand-building and communications efforts to help U.S. companies better compete against global rivals, are in the tradition of a number of other CP&Bers who have gone on to open independent marketing firms. They include Boulder, Colo.-based Victors & Spoils, whose founders include former CP&B execs John Winsor and Evan Fry; Stick & Move in Philadelphia, now part of Red Tettemer; and Goodness Mfg., which has Los Angeles and New York offices and was founded by execs who worked together at CP&B for a decade.

While at CP&B, Mr. Schiff was a VP-exec creative director, Mr. Prindle was VP-exec technology director and Mr. Kieselhorst exec design director. Collectively, they worked on clients such as Burger King, Domino’s, BMW’s Mini Cooper, Volkswagen, Best Buy, Sprite and Coke Zero.

“CP&B is a great agency, and I could never see myself leaving to go to another agency,” said Mr. Schiff in a statement. “But this is a mission. We work a lot in advertising, and I want to put every hour into building something I’m deeply committed to. ... More than 5.5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost or outsourced since 2001, yet if the average American spent 1% more on American-made goods and services, it would create 250,000 new jobs. We feel like we can help make that happen and more.”

Underpinning the strategy is the partners’ belief that the “buy American” mentality won’t fade even after the economy improves and unemployment rates fall. Still, in a global environment, the shop risk shutting itself out of future possibilities to work on exciting business, which could make it harder to hire and retain talent.

Mr. Schiff insists that’s not a concern. “We don’t really think we will run out of exciting opportunities. We believe there are plenty of people who will want to join this movement—both on the client and on the talent side.”

The launch is being funded by an undisclosed venture-capital firm. “One of the reasons we’re confident that we can attract clients and talent is because of how exciting the idea has been to investors,” said Mr. Schiff. “We’re working with a new venture fund that has a ‘brand communities’ focus. They have no other investments in the agency world.”

Asked if Made is launching with clients, Mr. Schiff said it is in discussions with potential marketers. “We are talking with several clients, but we want to build the agency around the mission,” he said. “In our opinion, too many agencies launch around a single big client and essentially become in-house marketing.”

9932: Best Joint To Work.

Jim Edwards at Business Insider pointed out Roberts Communications—voted 20th Best Place to Work by Advertising Age—was represented with a photograph of staffers sporting Jamaican gear, drinking Red Stripe and carrying a gigantic joint. Agency officials claimed the photo depicted “Team Reggae,” winner of the shop’s summer picnic kickball squad. Wonder if there’s a photo somewhere of at least one employee in a dreads wig and blackface.

9924: Invisible Admen And Adwomen.

From Advertising Age…

Silent Minorities: Industry Employees Speak Out About Adland Isolation

Results of Study Called ‘Very Disenchanting, But Not Surprising’

By Ken Wheaton

The average ad-industry employee likely agrees the diversity issue is a very unfortunate situation. One that should be remedied. By someone. But on a daily basis, he’s likely to carry on, figuring for the most part the industry will evolve and that his nonwhite coworkers are content with the state of adland.

The reality, according to a new study, is that a whopping 74% of minority employees in the industry agree that “My experience as an employee from a multicultural background is different from my colleagues’.”

The Impact Study, conducted by cross-cultural talent consultancy Tangerine-Watson, surveyed a total of 831 ad-industry professionals of various races and across general-market and ethnic shops between September and December of 2011.

The study’s numbers likely won’t shock anyone who’s paying attention to the issue. As 4A’s CEO Nancy Hill said, “It is very disenchanting, but not surprising at the same time.” Carol Watson, founder and CEO of Tangerine-Watson, called the results “sad and concerning.”

But one thing this survey provides is actual voices from those responding. What comes through is mostly a sense of resignation tinged with sadness.

“I try to keep my cultural preferences outside of work. … Since there isn’t much diversity I just have to go along with the flow,” wrote one respondent.

Another wrote about feeling excluded “when nobody [in the office] introduced themselves to me.”

“Many other people are allowed to just ‘be.’ As a black man I often have to shield my ‘real’ self a bit. I wish I could be as open as others. It’s something they don’t even recognize.”

Gender came up in a number of comments. Indeed, men (37%) felt more strongly than women (27%) that their experiences were “very much different” than their white colleagues.

Why does any of this matter? Obviously, aside from doing what’s right, it’s good for business to have ad agencies reflect the reality of the world we live in. One of the 4A’s most recent diversity efforts is called “Competitive Edge” for just that reason.

And it can be bad for business when a creative team overlooks important cultural cues in a campaign. For all the social-media outcries in 2011, the No. 10 most-read story on AdAge.com last year was “Nivea Pulls Ad, Apologizes After Racism Accusations.”

But even speaking up to voice concerns about such things comes with its own baggage. “Simply being aware of the presence (or lack thereof) of racial overtones in our advertising concepts and being turned to as the one to call it out is an unwritten responsibility—and I fear an unwritten liability,” wrote one respondent.

And there’s also the worry of being stigmatized as a complainer. Wrote another: “I have been treated differently for expressing negative feelings vs. my white colleagues.”

That’s not to say everything boiled down to race. When asked what they liked least about the ad industry, whites, African-Americans and Asian-Americans all picked “instability” as the top choice. “Instability” was the No. 2 choice among Hispanics, with “challenge balancing work and personal life” being the No. 1 dislike.

That said, lack of diversity does play a major role when it comes time for employees to decide whether or not to say in adland. African-Americans (33%) and Latinos (21%) were more likely to cite lack of racial and ethnic diversity as a very important reason for leaving the industry, compared to whites (4%).

For an industry that’s been hammered over this issue off and on since the late 1960s without a great deal of progress to show for it, keeping the minorities it has is just as important as recruiting fresh talent.

Ms. Watson hopes that the answers to the surveys—as well as a more granular look at the data and follow-up surveys—will provide some guidance for agencies.

Looking at some of the responses regarding those times multicultural employees actually felt included, some of the fixes don’t exactly require an industry-wide initiative. Being invited to meetings, being included in award-submission processes, being consulted on anything from creative to the new offices—these were among the things that made respondents feel more included.

Another step agency employees could take? Perhaps realizing that not everyone sees the time period portrayed in “Mad Men” as something to admire. (Responded one person to the scenario “I feel excluded”: “When they had a “Mad Men’ party.”)

But internship programs and affinity groups and mentoring and reverse-mentoring opportunities were also all mentioned by respondents. And that’s where agency executives and the industry as a whole have to step in.

“I’ve never been shy about saying we have work to do,” said the 4A’s Ms. Hill. “Our actions … have cultural cues we just need to think about, especially when we’re the majority culture.”

Which general-market agencies are doing right by way of diversity? Ogilvy & Mather and Wieden & Kennedy came in tops across the categories among non-Caucasian respondents.

In a statement, Ogilvy & Mather North America Chairman-CEO John Seifert said: “While we are grateful to see our progress recognized, we still have so much to do in attracting and retraining the best and brightest talent from the cross-cultural landscape we serve.”

Regarding Wieden & Kennedy, former employee Jimmy Smith chairman-CEO-chief creative officer of Amusement Park Entertainment, said, “It’s incredible what Dan [Wieden] and Dave [Kennedy] have accomplished … especially miraculous when you consider that Portland [Oregon] is one of the whitest joints on the planet.”

What does Wieden have that others don’t? No. 1, said Mr. Smith, is its client roster. “Cool attracts cool,” as he put it. But it’s not just Nike. “Dan and Dave have love for people of color. Dave has been heavily involved with the American Indian College Fund since I’ve known him. And it’s true: Dan wishes he could be reborn as a Black jazz musician. …John Jay is a partner at W&K and he’s Asian. He helped me immensely with my transition into W&K, and I’m sure he’s helped many others since I left.”

Much of which affirms something else Ms. Hill said. “The clear message in all of this is [that] it starts with the CEO.”

9917: Boyz N Da Hoodie.

From Advertising Age…

McCann Staffer Behind Million-Hoodie March to Protest Trayvon Martin Slaying

Daniel Maree Kick-Started New York March With Social Media

By Rupal Parekh

Headlines today have been dominated by the outrage and public show of support for the family of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Florida high-school student who was shot and killed by a self-appointed neighborhood-watch captain, George Zimmerman.

President Barack Obama today called the killing a tragedy, saying that “if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon”, and NBA star LeBron James is calling for justice to be served.

It turns out that a young ad man, 24-year-old Daniel Maree, a digital strategist at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann, was behind the organization of a march in New York City—and social-media campaign—that has garnered a lot of attention.

Raised in South Africa, Mr. Maree attended college in the U.S. and worked for the World Bank before joining McCann. His desire to raise awareness of Mr. Martin’s murder stems from personal experiences in which he felt targeted merely for walking down the street wearing a hoodie.

In a note that McCann North America President Hank Summy sent out late last night to staffers to inform them of their co-worker’s efforts, he explained Mr. Maree’s involvement:

Daniel decided to start a petition on Facebook, linked to Change.org, asking for a million signatures to encourage police action in the case. Out of that, a viral campaign grew quickly, and people around the world began uploading a picture of themselves wearing hoodies, many of them asking the question, “Do I look suspicious?”

As the campaign viralized, a group of Daniel’s friends, including Kandace Hudspeth, Director of McCann Social Central, and Daniel’s Social Central colleagues, used their free time and their skills to support Daniel, and build a campaign focused on the rally at Union Square last night. The team, experts in all areas of social—brand storytelling, content strategy and simplification, event activation, PR, creative and technology—created the Twitter hashtag #millionhoodies to spread the word, and also a gorgeous poster that was distributed online and printed for the rally as well. After Trayvon Martin’s parents announced they would come to NY and speak at the 6 p.m. rally on Union Square, media attention poured in.

Yesterday’s rally attracted a peaceful, passionate and diverse crowd estimated at about 5,000 people. After Travyon Martin’s parents and other community leaders spoke, the crowd marched from Union Square west on 14th Street, then north on Sixth Avenue, and was covered by media every step of the way.

If that isn’t enough, the Facebook petition surpassed 1 million signatures early this morning and is still growing by thousands of names every hour. In fact, ABC World News is reporting that the petition has become “The fastest growing petition in the history of the internet.”

This is an extraordinary story and a brilliant example of how one person’s idea, combined with the power of social media, and built by collaboration, can change the world. Congratulations to Daniel Maree and everyone else on the Social Central team – Kandace, Sharon Panelo, Michael Nguyen and Tiphaine Murat.

9915: Cars.com Not Feeling Confidence.

Advertising Age reported Cars.com is up for review after being with DDB Chicago for over a decade. Hey, baby, let’s get that Cars.com account—Whooo!

9910: One More Thing…

Advertising Age published “Three Things Agencies Can Learn From Basketball About Team Culture” by Partners & Napier CEO Sharon Napier. The three things are: 1) Winning agencies draft team players, not just superstars; 2) Promote a culture where everyone has a chance to get in the game; and 3) Great team chemistry starts at the top.

For proven success, Napier should add: 4) Put more Blacks on the team.

9898: Poached Bad Eggs.

Advertising Age reported Draftfcb is suing Digitas for allegedly poaching talent. Forget the fact that swapping “talent” between the two agencies is akin to floating turds between two toilets. Ignore the reality that Draftfcb has literally and inhumanely dumped hundreds in recent months—and mismanaged thousands more in recent years—meaning anyone with any sense of corporate loyalty would have to be patently insane. Don’t even consider details like Digitas is run by ex-Draftfcb Chief Marketing Officer Tony Weisman, one of the key scoundrels directly involved with the infamous Draftfcb/Walmart debacle, which proves both sides of the current scenario feature an all-star cast of assholes. No, what makes this fiasco exceptionally disgusting is the demonstration of traditional employment practices in the ad industry. That is, the game is played with exclusive connections, cliques and cronyism. Executives with hiring authority migrate from one shop to the next, ultimately recruiting former flunkies and recreating familiar teams. And rest assured, this behavior is happening at Digitas and Draftfcb. Diversity be damned, despite the Draftfcb declaration of multicultural harmony by 2014. What is taking place here is actually closer to reflecting 1914.

DraftFCB Levels Poaching Lawsuit Against Digitas

Agency Alleges Former Employees Wrongly Recruited Former Colleagues to New Shop

By Todd J. Behme, Kate Macarthur

Interpublic Group of Cos.’ DraftFCB has sued two former employees and cross-town agency Digitas, alleging that the pair wrongly recruited former DraftFCB colleagues after joining the Publicis Groupe-owned digital shop.

Chicago-based DraftFCB alleges that Brooke Skinner and Kevin Drew Davis—a senior planning executive and digital creative exec, respectively—violated signed agreements with DraftFCB that permitted them to defect to a competitor but mandated they could not to be involved in recruiting or hiring former colleagues for one year.

“Both of them have violated that agreement, for in the months after they joined Digitas, at least five of their DraftFCB colleagues, with whom they had worked closely while at DraftFCB, have joined them at Digitas,” says the suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois.

The news of the lawsuit was first reported by Ad Age sibling Crain’s Chicago Business.

Ms. Skinner, who was senior VP-planning at DraftFCB, led planning for the S.C. Johnson account business, according to the complaint.

When DraftFCB in July lost its longtime client S.C. Johnson after a review (the business went to Ogilvy and BBDO, and the move resulted in a round of layoffs of DraftFCB), Ms. Skinner left in August to join the Chicago office of Boston-based Digitas.

Rema Waugh, an associate media director who also worked on the S.C. Johnson account and with whom Ms. Skinner “collaborated closely,” joined Digitas 10 days after Ms. Skinner, the lawsuit says. The complaint further states that Ms. Skinner collaborated with Seth Goldberg, senior VP-planning, who also left the agency to join Digitas earlier this month.

Mr. Davis, who was exec VP-head of digital creative, left in October to join Digitas, the complaint says. Since then, three former DraftFCB employees who worked in digital creative have joined Digitas, according to the suit. It says Nick Soonfah-Senior resigned Dec. 1; Matt Weiner resigned Jan. 13 and Morgan Aibinder resigned Feb. 22, and that Mr. Weiner was one of two employees who reported to Mr. Davis at the time Mr. Davis left DraftFCB.

DraftFCB says in the suit that all employees are required to confirm their agreement with a code of conduct that includes a non-solicitation provision. The agency further contends that Digitas knew of the agreements and influenced Ms. Skinner and Mr. Davis to help hire their former co-workers against those agreements.

The agency is asking the court to temporarily and permanently restrain Digitas, Ms. Skinner, Mr. Davis and the other five former employees from directly or indirectly trying to hire any other DraftFCB employees, and for various damages to be determined at trial.

Tony Weisman, president of Digitas’ Chicago, Boston and Detroit region, who joined the agency in 2007 after serving as chief marketing officer at DraftFCB, declined to comment. In an email, a DraftFCB spokesman said: “It is against company policy to discuss specifics around any pending litigation. We will say that if former employees violate non-solicitation agreements that they had willfully signed, we will take the necessary steps to enforce those agreements.”

Poaching suits are often used as a tool in adland to publicly air grievances and try and put an end to employee defections. Back in 2008, the now defunct shop Agency.com sued iCrossing for allegedly carrying out a scheme to steal employees and clients such as 3M and Hilton in violation of non-solicitation clauses.

Often, not very much results from such suits.

About two years ago, another Interpublic Group agency, McCann, filed a poaching lawsuit against MDC Partners’ KBS&P. The suit was quickly settled, and no monetary damages were paid. MDC and KBS&P merely agreed not to solicit any McCann employees for a period of six months.

9888: From Linsanity To Linsensitivity.

From The Big Tent…

‘Linmania’ May Be Fading, But Its Lessons Linger

Words Can and Do Hurt People, And Poor Research Can Result in Demeaning Stereotypes

By Bill Imada

The media frenzy created by Jeremy Lin’s success as a basketball player, scholar, devoted Christian and American of Chinese heritage is fading as New York Knicks’ losses mount and opponents learn how to contain him. But the lesson of several weeks of “Linsanity” remains as powerful as ever. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is wrong. Words can and do hurt people, and we hear about the damage they cause all the time.

Derogatory words such as chink, jap, gook and a host of other negative terms do hurt people of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities and cultures. These hurtful terms belittle us as people, they categorize and single us out for ridicule, and they thrust unwelcome labels onto us that follow us, as Asian-Americans, from generation to generation.

When ESPN anchor Max Bretos used the headline, “Chink in the Armor,” to describe Lin’s nine turnovers in a Knicks loss to the New Orleans Hornets, I was astonished and dismayed. How in this day and age can any news anchor even think of using such a derogatory word in a nationally broadcast news segment? It is 2012, for heaven’s sake. Racial and ethnic insensitivity should be a thing of the past. Haven’t we learned anything over the decades about the use of insulting words, phrases and imagery in advertising, marketing and journalism?

Because I serve as a volunteer to a wide array of community-based groups, I have first-hand knowledge about the demeaning use of terms such as “chink.” That includes bullying and taunting of Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans at school and in other social settings; bolstering negative images of Asian-Americans and Asians living in the United States as being perpetual foreigners and never having a rightful place in American society; creating a hostile environment that can lead to vicious hate crimes in communities where people who may appear or sound different are treated with suspicion and disdain.

To add insult to injury, Bretos issued an apology by saying his wife is Asian, and he would never intentionally do anything to disrespect her or the Asian-American community. This apology reminds me of what others have said when they offended black Americans. The accused would defend themselves by saying: “If I offended anyone, I apologize. It was never my intent to upset African-Americans; some of my best friends are black!” Just because you have friends who are black or Asian-American doesn’t make those who are offended by derogatory remarks feel better.

It’s time to move forward and learn from all that has happened. I support and applaud ESPN for taking decisive steps to deal with those who used the word “chink” on air to describe Jeremy Lin’s overall play on the basketball court. I also accept their apology apology for making such a statement. But if the station truly wishes to set the record straight, it should consider airing a segment that clearly articulates why these words hurt and demean others. I therefore encourage ESPN to take an opportunity to explain what has happened and what steps they are taking to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. By doing this, they’ll teach others about this incident and how it can be avoided.

On to Ben & Jerry’s.

Ben & Jerry’s recently said it would produce a special ice cream in Jeremy Lin’s honor. On the surface, this is a thoughtful idea. The company said the product would include bits of fortune cookies, which elicited a strong and negative response from leaders and consumers of Asian-American heritage. Fortune cookies were invented in the United States and are closely tied to Chinese-American and other Asian-inspired foods. It also represents to many Asian-Americans that other people don’t have a wider and more knowledgeable view of Asians and Asian-Americans. We are a community of many cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs, and do not want to be lumped together under the image of a specific food item—especially a fortune cookie. Fortune cookies were created for amusement and fun, the imagery behind them perpetuates an unwanted view that Asians are mysterious, exotic and whimsical.

Most Asian-American consumers aren’t upset with Ben & Jerry’s because it does so much good for the world. Since its founding, the company has been involved in a number of philanthropic causes that support a wide variety of diverse communities. The visible involvement has earned it a great deal of respect and admiration from consumers of all backgrounds and cultures. I and others appreciate Ben & Jerry’s quick apology and acknowledgement of the mistake, and all seems to be forgiven.

One final lesson that marketers, advertisers and public-relations practitioners should always remember: The very first step is to do the homework. Research, research and research some more. Ask yourselves a few questions about your plans to determine if your actions can be viewed as offensive, negative, condescending and/or demeaning. Taking this step early will save you a whole lot of time and grief.

Bill Imada is chairman-CEO of the IW Group, New York.

9885: Hampton Checks In With Y&R.

Advertising Age reported Y&R New York won the Hampton Hotels account following a lengthy review. The Memphis, Tennessee-based client sent an Elvis impersonator to deliver the news to its new AOR. Former Hampton Hotels agency Draftfcb probably received a text reading, “Elvis and our account have left the building.”

Y&R, New York Named Lead Creative for Hampton Hotels

WPP Shop Will Handle Digital, Creative for Hilton’s Second Largest Brand

By Rupal Parekh

After losing the marquee brand in the Hilton Hotels portfolio just over a year ago, WPP’s Y&R is expanding its business with the hospitality giant. It has picked up lead creative duties for Hampton, Hilton’s second biggest nameplate, after a review.

Y&R lost the Hilton Hotels creative business to indie Cramer-Krasselt last January but it stayed on the roster doing work for the Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad brands, and was invited to pitch the Hampton business when it went into review last year.

Hampton declined to comment, but Jim Elliott, chief creative officer of Y&R, New York, said “it was a long pitch, but actually one of the most fun pitches I’ve ever worked on... we just connected with their personality from the get-go.”

To wit, Hampton, whose corporate headquarters are based in Memphis, Tenn., sent an Elvis impersonator to Y&R to deliver the good news of the account win.

The pitch was led by Judy Christa-Cathey, VP-Hampton brand marketing at Hilton Hotel Corp.

Hampton’s previous agency was Interpublic Group of Cos.’ DraftFCB, which had handled the business for nearly eight years. The agency had also handled creative duties for Homewood Suites, which was moved to Publicis Groupe’s Publicis, New York, this summer. DraftFCB did not participate in either review.

Hampton, which in many places is also still known as “Hampton Inn,” has more than 1,800 properties globally. Y&R, New York, will be the brand’s lead agency, tasked to handle creative and digital work, but sibling VML will also work with Hampton to provide digital support.

New work is slated to launch soon. Hilton spent nearly $30 million on domestic measured media in 2011, up from $26 million in 2010, according to Kantar.

9871: Starbucks Presents Grande Rip-Off.

Advertising Age reported Starbucks will introduce a single-serve coffeemaker. The device will likely retail for $500,000 each.

Starbucks to Launch Single-Serve Coffeemaker

Verismo to Hit Retail Outlets in Time for Holidays

By Maureen Morrison

Starbucks will be selling a single-cup coffeemaker branded under its name that will make both coffee and espresso-based drinks such as lattes.

The product, dubbed Verismo, will be launched by this year’s holiday season and will be sold at some Starbucks stores, as well as specialty retail locations. Starbucks said that it developed the brewer with Krueger, a Germany-based company, but the chain declined to discuss pricing during a conference call today announcing the launch, nor did it offer marketing details.

The news could be a threat to Green Mountain, with which Starbucks has a relationship. In March 2011, Starbucks inked a deal with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for the sale, manufacture and distribution of Starbucks and Tazo—its tea brand—in K-Cups, the dominant format in the single-serve market. Green Mountain has the patent on K-Cups, and it owns the Keurig machines for which K-Cups are used.

Starbucks was previously unable to jump into the Keurig market because of its distribution deal with Kraft Foods, which is the exclusive distributor of Tassimo brewers, another single-serve rival. Starbucks in November 2010 moved to dump Kraft as the distributor of its coffee in grocery stores.

Green Mountain last month unveiled its own brewer, Vue, which brews single-serve coffee. K-Cups will not be compatible with Verismo. Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz said during the call that the relationship between Starbucks and Green Mountain has not soured, and that the two “can and will coexist,” as Starbucks’ new high-pressure machine will offer espresso-based drinks, whereas Green Mountain’s does not. Green Mountain’s stock tumbled some 15% in after-hours trading following the announcement.

Starbucks has been making strides in the single-serve space for nearly three years. The chain got into the single-serve market with Via, its instant coffee, in 2009. The coffee giant last year struck a deal with Courtesy Products to offer Starbucks single-serve coffee in upscale hotel rooms.

Mr. Schultz also made it a point to say that the at-home coffee machine will not cannibalize Starbucks’ own retail business. And while Starbucks plans to just offer Starbucks-branded coffee for now, “we reserve the right to open the system to others, and we have not made that decision as of today,” said Mr. Schultz.

9870: GSD&M + eHarmony = Odd Couple.

Advertising Age reported eHarmony hired GSD&M as its new creative AOR. Look for the first promotion from the Austin, Texas-based shop to seek suitors for Annie the Chicken Queen.

EHarmony Hires GSD&M to Handle Creative Duties

Omnicom Group Shop Will Lead Repositioning of Dating Site

By Rupal Parekh

EHarmony has made a match with Austin, Texas-based GSD&M as its North American creative agency of record. GSD&M replaces the online-dating site’s agency of 10 years, Los Angeles-based DW&H.

The creative review followed a media review eHarmony launched in 2010, at the end of which it chose Omnicom Group’s OMD as its media agency of record. The selection of sibling GSD&M means that most of eHarmony’s advertising is now centralized within Omnicom Group.

“We really looked at GSD&M as a partner that has a track record for working with companies with a deep-rooted mission and purpose. … We felt they would make a really good partner for us,” Julie Fields, eHarmony’s VP-brand marketing, told Ad Age. “This agency has a heart, and that’s something that is important to us as we continue to build our future.”

Duff Stewart, president-CEO of GSD&M, said it was especially fulfilling to pick up the account because when the process began in October it seemed that the agency’s headquarters location in Austin might put the shop at a disadvantage. “But we said, ‘Let us come visit you and … get to know you,’ and it has been great since then,” Mr. Stewart said. “They were used to having someone nearby, but we were able to demonstrate that we can build brands that have a purpose.”

The timing is right for GSD&M to pick up a new account, given that its client of nearly 30 years, Southwest, last month began a review looking to give a new creative agency a piece of its $250 million business.

According to Kantar, for the past few years eHarmony has spent about $80 million in domestic measured media.

EHarmony, based in Santa Monica, Calif., was founded in 2000. It operates in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and Brazil, as well as in 11 countries across continental Europe through its affiliation with eDarling. The company claims that an average of 542 eHarmony members in the U.S. marry every day as a result of being matched up on the site.

Ms. Fields said eHarmony will introduce a new creative campaign later this year. Broadcast will remain a key component of the mix, and the focus will most likely be on modernizing the site to have it perceived as being not only about meeting people but about building lasting relationships.

9851: Mad At Mad Men.

Advertising Age reported New Yorkers are upset by outdoor billboards promoting the upcoming season of Mad Men (depicted above), claiming the falling Don Draper graphic evokes images of 9/11. Interestingly enough, no one has ever expressed concern that the animated figure—which has illustrated the show’s opening title sequence since the beginning—actually evokes images of all the real adpeople who have jumped from high-rise buildings.

Controversy Brews Over Ads Promoting New Season of AMC’s ‘Mad Men’

Family Members of 9/11 Victims Complain Falling-Man Images Recall Those of Tragedy

By Rupal Parekh

Just weeks before the much-awaited return of AMC’s “Mad Men,” a promotional campaign for the fifth season of the hit show about 1960’s Madison Avenue is sparking controversy as some folks say it evokes images from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In question is a minimalist image featured on billboards, on public telephone booths and in subway stations. It depicts a man wearing a suit stenciled in black, as he falls through the sky against a stark white background. Several family members of 9/11 victims told the New York Times that for them, the image conjures the memory of people forced to jump out of the crumbling, blazing Twin Towers more than 10 years ago.

The sudden outrage suggests that many Americans aren’t familiar with the show, since this image of the falling man has been utilized in the show’s opening credits and has been emblematic of the series—and its lead character, Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm—from the beginning.

Wikipedia notes that the title sequences pay homage to graphic designer Saul Bass’s skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” and the falling-man movie poster for “Vertigo.” The show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, has listed Hitchcock as a major influence on the visual style of the series, says the Wikipedia page.

That the posters are now causing a stir is likely due to heightened outdoor and print advertising around the show’s fifth season, as well as a recent article in Esquire that made the comparison to 9/11.

AMC denies any link between its advertising and 9/11. In a statement, the network told the New York Times: “The image of Don Draper tumbling through space has been used since the show began in 2007 to represent a man whose life is in turmoil. The image used in the campaign is intended to serve as a metaphor for what is happening in Don Draper’s fictional life and in no way references actual events.”