Arnold Worldwide

Over on Adweek, the comments section has taken the shape of a slugfest. It's Arnold employees (the disgruntled, departed, laid off or employed) vs. Arnold employees (the disgruntled, departed, laid off or employed). The article over which these people are spitting is about the agency being placed under the EuroRSCG masthead. And yo! It is so nasty over there. Here's a sample of the fury:

adhound: "Oh, please! If Arnold had been doing good creative all along this wouldn't be happening now. The work has been crap for a couple years now. All Favat ever cared about was truth - he didn't know how to do anything good on any other brand. This isn't the fault of 'greedy execs' - this is chickens coming home to roost."

Steve C: "All shops are doing poorly but Arnold's done nothing creatively or on the new business front since Favat took over. I don't know of any "fat" that was trimmed over there. I do know of some good people, great at their jobs who were let go. I also know of a lot of 22 year olds that are horrible at their jobs that now run the place. What a great shop it used to be. Without a change in management I don't think Arnold will be around in a few years."

Arnold lover: "The thing I hate about blogs is any liar or angry dickhead can write this type of drival. Does doing that make you feel better? the lying? the bashing? I know you must be hurting from the loss of your job. But this is no way to move forward. So to straighten out steve c, adhound, and realist. You are probably one person anyway. Since Pete Favat was promoted Progressive, Volvo, Carnival to name a few have joined Arnold. Pete and Pam Hamlin were put in charge at the worst time in the agency history. the day kerri martin told upper management VW was leaving. Lets face it. VW was the only thing winning at Arnold. Then truth came brought in by Pete, then ESPN came, then Timberland to name a small fraction. The leadership Pete and Pam have provided created the most successful two years the agency has ever seen. Sorry things didn't work out for you at Arnold. Maybe you should stop being so disgruntled and clueless. (22 year olds running the agency?) Get your facts straight at least. And maybe try to spend time doing something productive. Or do you find it more satisfying shredding people who are actually trying, working hard and doing something good? The world is already full of what you have to offer. Try something new for a change."

VW Fan: "In 2005 the party was over, and VW was stripped away for reasons the entire industry knows: Kerri Martin and CPB wre in cahoots. Everyone felt sorry for Arnold and everyone still looks back and sees the body of work from the Drivers Wanted era as one of the best in history. the creative since has been classic Crispin: all over the place with no single unifying vision, hoping something cool will catch fire. meanwhile sales have plummeted 100,000 units, even before the recession! The brand has lost all the cool. I don't know about all the arnold politics but arnold and the team from that era was no doubt in the zone, even after Jensen left for modernista. VWs terrible decision popped the arnold balloon."

And it just goes on and on and on and on....

More: Reading List: The Happy Soul Industry, by Steffan Postaer

Working Mother magazine has released its 2008 list of best companies for moms and those to be.

Arnold Worldwide is the only ad firm to make this list. Why? For starters, their 8 weeks of partially paid maternity leave and "phase back" to work program. New dads and adoptive parents receive two weeks. Nice. The magazine also touts the agency's compressed workweeks and summer Fridays, as well as workers ability to alter their hours on a daily basis if they like.

Plus, the Working Mother provides a snap shot of how women fair company wide and ain't to shabby:

Women managers/execs 117
Women among top earners 36%
Women on board of directors 43%

Congratulations Arnold.

Arnold has gotten savvy and hired a Multicultural Marketing Group Director. SVP level of course. Reginald Osborne is her name and according to Adweek, his goal will be to "create an integrated capability for diversity marketing across all agency accounts." So, what Arnold really means is there going to try and talk to people of color. Why they just can't say that? I'll never know. Never. According to AdAge's Report Cards, Arnold isn't listed among the top 50 multicultural agencies in either the Hispanic, African American or Asian markets. Better get cracking, mister.

Osborne bounced from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, and before that, Spike DDB, Grey and Ted Bates.

This move is also a way in which Arnold can say they are promoting multiculturalism at their company. Good to see him at the top of the pile, but let's see what happens below, yeah?

Arnold Worldwide is breaking a new campaign for Progressive Insurance, which is an account valued at $150M, that focuses on the company's motorcycle insurance.

Boston-based Arnold's two new commercials use the new tagline, "Life without your bike is just life." Check it out above.

"Tonally we wanted to evoke the boring, monotony riders experience when they don't have their bikes," said Craig Johnson, Arnold's creative director on the campaign, in a statement. "The ads are basically humorous cautionary tales, told with tongue firmly planted in cheek."

So, what do you think?