The New York Post, that not-so venerable, but totally fun paper, is engaging in ad biz fear mongering. Today, the paper ran with the the headline - "Drop in Ad $$ in '07, Raises Fears about '08." All this despite the big dawgs (Sorrell and Levy are two) keeping their fears confined to 2009 when the Olympics, Elections and other big spending broadcast ventures have petered out with a recession in a probable full swing. From the Post:

"In 2007, ad expenditures grew a meager 0.2 percent, to $149 billion, compared with the previous year, according to figures from ad tracker TNS Media Intelligence. That compares with the 4.1 percent growth rate in 2006. Spending actually fell 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter as the ad marketplace became "engulfed by the spreading pessimism about general economic conditions," said Jon Swallen, TNS's head of research."

Yes, it was a lackluster year, but consumer magazines and cable TV, rose 7%, to $24.43 billion and 6.5%, to $17.8 billion. Outdoor advertising also increased 4.9% to $4.02 billion last year. Forbes offers this stat:

"Network television spending for the year fell 2%, to $22.43 billion, while syndication dropped 1.5% to $4.17 billion. Far more drastic: spending on spot TV, which plummeted 10.2% to $15.59 billion."

Anyone remember that whole strike thing? And:

"Spending among the top 10 advertisers dropped 0.3% to $18.66 billion in measured media, compared with 2006. While spending at Verizon Communications on its core wireless division and FiOS television service was up 11.1%, companies like General Motors, News Corp. and Time Warner took a hit. In fact, budgets were slashed 7.7%, 5.4% and 5%, respectively."

Hey, look. Last year? Ok, not the best the advertising industry has ever had and sure, it'll get rougher, but let take a deep breath.

What's the advertising equivalent of taking a run on the banks?