Arnold Worldwide

Disclaimer: We were given the above spot from Arnold Worldwide on April 1, though were kindly asked to take it down as it was sent to us “in error” (which explains some of the older comments). As it turns out, the McRib was not quite back, as some had falsely speculated, at the time. However, now that the word is out that the McRib has, in fact, been officially resurrected as of today, we offer the TV commercial (which aired last November and was only released to media for “archiving purposes” on sites like our sibilng, AdsoftheWorld, months later) for your viewing pleasure. Party on.

The. McRib. Is. Back. Just when you thought it was gone forever, it returns, just like it does every spring (or fall or summer, depending on Mac Doh’s whims) and will continue to until the world ends or until McDonald’s merges with Subway to take over the world. And, you know what? People are going to talk about the McRib around your office. “Did you hear?” someone will ask, eyes wide with eager anticipation, McDonald’s grease-smelling sweat dripping onto your desk. “The McRib. It’s back dude. Just like the Backstreet Boys.” Indeed, it’s back.

But, before you throw over your work desk and “run” your out-of-shape self over to the nearest McRib feeding facility, we should mention that the McRib’s limited run is set to expire on Nov. 14. That gives you three whole weeks to gorge yourself on this 500-calorie combination of boneless patty, pickle slices, onions and BBQ sauce (aka McSlop), so if you want to make it all 21 days, proceed with caution. Last year’s McRib spot by Arnold Worldwide marked the end of a 16-year “hiatus” of the agency doing McRib work for the esteemed fast-food chain. It remains to be seen if the agency will get to launch America’s favorite sandwich again this time around. Credits after the jump.

Read more

Let’s dip into a little across-the-pond news for a tick, shall we? After serving as acting executive creative director at London-based Arnold KLP for the last couple of months, Jim Thornton has officially been named ECD at the agency. Thornton previously spent a year as creative director at Naked and a “fabulous 11 months” as a CD at Mother before that. During his second tour of duty at the latter agency, Thornton led creative work for the Post Office and created a campaign which turned the National Drug Helpline into a service called FRANK.

During his 25-year ad career, Thornton has also worked as a CD/copywriter at TBWA and spent four years as an ECD at Leo Burnett London, where he oversaw Drink Drive & Teens Road Safety campaigns among others. In a statement, Thornton sounds excited, saying, “I haven’t been as excited or enthused about the potential of an agency since the early days at Mother. I’m really looking forward to adding my experience to the blistering array of expertise already here. While every other agency has been talking a good 360 game these last ten years, these guys have just been quietly getting on and doing it.”

Thorton’s hiring at Arnold KLP follows that of Saatchi & Saatchi alum Marcus Smith, who joined as head of planning just recently.

Ah, gotta love the ever-evolving titles that ad agencies come up with and Arnold Worldwide continues the trend by adding Digitas alum Dave Dugan as something called chief commercial officer. If you need to know what that is, this different kind of CCO is tasked with this: “Build out current capabilities and identify opportunities to build new lines of business,” work on other agency core services including CRM, social and mobile and help clients grow their business.

Now that we got that out of the way, Dugan, who will officially assume his post at Arnold on October 17, spent a dozen years at Digitas (two related posts in a day, you say?) and last served as SVP, corporate strategy until leaving to take on the role of president in 2008 at Boston-based, WOM/social marketing shop BzzAgent.

Havas-owned agency network Arnold Worldwide continues its international expansion with the opening of its Shanghai branch (Amsterdam opened last year, lest we forget). From what they tell us, the launch of its Chinese office was spurred by being named global AOR for Dell, as well as global work for the Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort brands. All of sudden, we’re getting thirsty.

Anyhow, the office is starting out with 10 and expected to grow to 30 staffers by year’s end and Arnold’s global CEO/Havas global CSO Andrew Bennett couldn’t be more optimistic, saying, “Expanding into Asia has always been a part of Arnold’s micronetwork growth strategy, and after winning global assignments for a number of new clients, as well as extending our reach with existing clients, we’re thrilled to be opening in Shanghai—one of the most vibrant and vital markets in the world.”

After winning pro hockey’s top prize (which of course spurred a huge riot in Vancouver), the Boston Bruins have turned their focus to marketing and in doing so, the NHL franchise has selected Arnold Worldwide as its new AOR. Seems logical considering the agency’s New England roots and as a result of the Bruins’ decision, Arnold will first be tasked with creating an integrated marketing campaign (you know, digital, print, TV, OOH) to celebrate the start of the new NHL season in October.

Arnold is no stranger to the sports world, having handled advertising efforts for the Miami Dolphins, the U.S. Open tennis championships and ESPN Super Bowl spots in the past. The agency also counts New Balance and Titleist as clients if that means anything. In a statement, Jen Compton, the Bruins’ VP of marketing, says, “After winning the Stanley Cup, we have a fantastic opportunity to build on our momentum throughout New England and Arnold is the perfect partner to help us creatively do that.”

The Bruins biz was previously handled by Mullen, which resurrected this amusing video to celebrate the team’s Stanley Cup victory. According to sources familiar with the matter, there was no review.

Arnold Worldwide has brought on Tim Allen as VP/creative director, who joins the agency from R/GA, where he spent nearly three years as a CD on Nike and was involved with redesigning the Nike+ platform. Before heading into the agency world, Allen worked on the client side as product design lead at the likes of Adobe (for you techies, he helped conceive new versions of Creative Suite 3/4 and Acrobat/Reader 9), Macromedia and IBM.

Arnold Worldwide has added a new senior-level exec to its planning group that’s neatly referred to as Human Nature. The agency has welcomed Lana Plecas as SVP, global planning director on Panasonic and Fidelity among other accounts. Plecas joins from Saatchi & Saatchi New York, where she spent eight years and served as SVP, group planning director on brands including General Mills (Cheerios, Pillsbury), KitchenAid and P&G (Crest, Head & Shoulders). Prior to that, Plecas had a four-year run at Wunderman as VP, account director/context planner and helped launched Kellogg’s products and worked on AT&T, Sony, DuPont and Xerox.

It seems like deja vu when the term “reorganization”  is applied to Draftfcb NY, but that’s exactly what the agency’s proposing when it comes to its integrated production disciplines. The new purpose of the overhauled IP department, according to Draft NY, is “to bring ideas to life in the most creative, efficient and spectacular way, regardless of channel or discipline.”

To help achieve its realization of the “spectacular,” the agency has hired Anthony Nelson to serve as leader of the new integrated production division. Nelson joins from Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s Boulder HQ, where he served as executive integrated producer and most recently worked on the new Bing spots as well as BK’s “Whopper Virgins” and the Ozzy/Bieber Super Bowl ad for Best Buy. Before CP+B, Nelson ran film development at Corbis and was executive director at Superfad. He officially starts today at Draftfcb NY and takes on the newly created title of EVP, director of integrated production. You can check out his work here.

After opening up shop in Amsterdam in 2010, Arnold is turning its attention to the land down under in 2011 as the agency is aligning with Australia-based sister Havas unit The Furnace to form the new entity, Arnold Furnace. While you wait for it to roll off the tongue, Arnold Furnace is opening up offices in Melbourne and Sydney. One of the main reasons for the expansion, according to camp Arnold, is the “increasing” international work for existing clients including Carnival Cruise Lines, Ocean Spray and Progressive, which both Aussie offices will support.

As for the leadership at Arnold Furnace, it will consist of current Furnace managing director Tony Singleton and joint national creative directors Paul Fenton and Tom Spicer. In terms of staffing, the Sydney office will house approximately 60 employees while Melbourne will have 15.

On the heels of Kobe Bryant and his teammates recording a PSA after Kobe’s very public anti-gay slur, the NBA as a whole is launching a campaign taking on the same kind of hateful language.

The spot, created by Arnold NYC, GLSEN, Ad Council, NBA and featuring Phoenix Suns players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley (whose boss, Suns president/CEO Rick Welts, came out over the weekend), also features a track from the Beastie Boys called “Make Some Noise” from the group’s recently released, critically acclaimed album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. It’s always nice to see a professional sports association like the NBA taking a real stand against trash-talk, but maybe an “It Gets Better” video might have had a bit more impact? In any case, as the Bulls and Heat play in the most anticipated series of the 2010-2011 season so far, a huge amount of passive fans are probably now just tuning into the playoffs, giving this spot more reach than it would have gotten it previous years. Credits after the jump.

Read more