BBDO

Guess a return trip to BBDO didn’t stick as we’ve received confirmation that Misha Louy, who left his old stomping grounds in the agency’s New York office for a brief spell at Droga5 last April, has once again left his old haunt during the return trip.

From what we’ve been told, Louy will be leaving BBDO NY at the end of the month to become a partner at a small production company/record label called Decon. Prior to BBDO, Louy served for three years on the production side at Merkley + Partners during his career.

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BBDO has confirmed that Chris Hall (pictured), who has spent over 13 years as president/CEO of its Atlanta office, has left the agency for “personal reasons.” Hall actually took a leave of absence before the holidays but we’ve been told he’s not returning. His responsibilities are currently being handled by BBDO ATL CCO Bobby Pearce and BBDO Americas chairman/CEO Troy Ruhanen while the agency looks for a successor. Prior to his lengthy stay at BBDO, Hall spent time on the new business side at JWT for 13 years.

Remove the “t” from “gift” and the “w” from “wrap” and you end up with “Gif Rap,” Skittles’ digital holiday card from BBDO Toronto.

Animated gifs have had quite a resurgence of popularity in 2011. Is it that hipsters enjoy gifs’ “vintage Internet” aesthetic? Is it that mobile apps like “Gif Shop” have made animated gifs easier to make than ever? Is it because quickmeme made adding personalized Impact text over images too easy? Whatever the case, we’ve already seen them used in two separate agency holiday cards so far.

“Gif Rap the Rainbow” is exactly what it sounds like, allowing users to select between four Santa-themed animated gifs and four hip-hop beats to combine for a personalized holiday greeting. If you’re wondering what the above image looks like when animated, click here. Credits after the jump.

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Hat tip to our own Bob Marshall for the note regarding the BBDO NY tweet above, which basically explains it all. Denny Haley, in case you were wondering, was a 21-year BBDO vet who eventually took on the dual roles of CCO and president/CEO at the MN office once Bob Thacker resigned back in 2004 (FYI, Thacker eventually came out of retirement a year later to serve as SVP, marketing at OfficeMax and is now working for a nonprofit organization in Chicago). Anyhow, as the tweet says, Haley’s successor is Neil White, who’s been serving an SVP at BBDO Minneapolis for three years. Prior to BBDO, White held account director posts at the likes of BBDO Canada and JWT.

Update: Well, here’s more from the BBDO camp. It’s not an immediate departure as Haley will be transitioning his workload over the next few months and White actually won’t take over until early next year. The new BBDO Minneapolis boss will be aided in his soon-to-be new role by the office’s ECD, Brian Kroening.

Regarding Haley’s resignation, Troy Ruhanen, BBDO chairman, the Americas, says in a statement, “This has been a difficult decision for all. No one wants to see Denny leave.  But if there is anyone who has earned the right to retire on a high, it is Denny.  For more than 20 years, he has poured his heart and soul into BBDO and its clients, helping to grow our Minneapolis office.  He leaves BBDO on a high, and we are fortunate to have someone of Neil’s caliber to succeed him.  We wish Denny all the best of luck…knowing, of course, he will still only be a phone call away.”

 

We’ve been hearing from spies since yesterday that Procter & Gamble is ready for a fresh start with its Swiffer account, which has been handled out of Cincinnati’s Barefoot Proximity for several years. Tips like “BBDO cincinnati loses swiffer” rolled in yesterday evening, but to clarify, BBDO does not officially have a Cincy office. BBDO Worldwide bought the digital/direct shop when it was known as Barefoot Advertising in 2008 in order to expand its relationship with P&G and subsequently attached the Proximity name to it.

Anyhow, Barefoot also works on other accounts for the corporate giant including Febreze and its founding partner, Doug Worple, happens to be an ex-P&G exec, which makes this move, if true, all the more peculiar. BBDO would not comment on the Swiffer matter but our contacts at P&G are looking into it as we speak.

Update: P&G would only say that Barefoot is Swiffer’s current AOR, but would not comment any further. Wonder where all the ruckus on the Spy line came from all of a sudden, but we’ll keep you posted if and when this story develops. You can now breathe a sigh of relief.

Tipsters were spot-on once again this afternoon as BBDO and Universal McCann have indeed picked up global creative and media duties, respectively, for one of the world’s most valuable public companies. DDB, meanwhile, will continue to handle below-the-line work for ExxonMobil. We reported back in July that Euro RSCG was cut from the review, which dragged on for well over a year. Finalists in the global creative pitch included BBDO, DDB and McCann, the last of which handled creative work for the corporate giant along with Euro. Read more on the news here.

Now that this is finally over, should we refocus on Bud Light?

Sources familiar with the matter are telling us that copywriter Grant Smith (pictured) and art director Rick Ardito are returning to BBDO New York, where they both spent over four years before splitting to launch their shop, Handsome Advertising. From what we hear, Smith and Ardito, whose working relationship dates back 12 years to their Cliff Freeman  & Partners days, will be joining BBDO’s AT&T creative team, which is currently led by ECD Greg Hahn. We’re still trying to get a concrete start date for the pair as well as their titles. We wager that it’s something in the CD realm. Sources add that Smith and Ardito are replacing Ralph Watson, who left BBDO for Goodby Detroit in September.

Update: Here’s a note that BBDO North America chairman/CCO David Lubars sent to staff today:

It’s like pulling teeth sometimes, people. OK, we will end our David Page saga for the time being by letting you know that BBDO has confirmed the CP+B alum is in fact joining its NYC office as group planning director on a “wide range of clients.” Sure, there was no I-team assembled as threatened, but a little nudge doesn’t hurt. Page’s official start date is on Halloween. Can you dress up on your first day on the job?

Sources familiar with the matter tell us that BBDO New York has taken over as the de facto agency for HP’s U.S. printing business. The agency had been working with Omnicom sister shop Goodby on the domestic printing account, but now, it fully rests in BBDO New York’s hands. Don’t worry, GS&P fans, the San Francisco agency is still very much invested in HP and it did not “resign” the account as some tipsters alleged. But seeing as BBDO had already handled the brand’s global printing work, the transition makes sense we suppose. When asked for comment, BBDO referred all inquiries to HP.

As the MLB regular season comes to an end today, so too do a pair of dismal seasons for the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. The Bears certainly don’t look any better than last year, and a lockout could prevent the Bulls from even playing this season. Tack onto that a state budget deficit scheduled to hit $5 billion by next summer, and it’s clear that the people of Illinois need quite a pick-me-up as the frigid winter nears.

Luckily, the state lottery is here to give Illinoisans a bit of optimism, and a new campaign from Energy BBDO is promising more prizes for players than all of the windows in all of downtown Chicago’s buildings. To emphasize that point, the agency imagined 7.6 million marbles, one for each prize, released in Millennium Park in the Chicago Loop. Watch as the marbles spread chaos throughout the streets of Chicago, from poisoning squirrels to causing movers to drop expensive pianos.

Also, might we add that the lottery will create 25 new millionaires? Watch a millionaire parade below and consider that at this point, buying your body weight in scratch-offs is probably less of a gamble than keeping Bears’ QB Jay Cutler and head coach Lovie Smith for another season.