It looks like Matt Canzano‘s role within McCann has further expanded as the 10-year vet and current chief creative officer of said agency’s Motor City office has now been elevated to the dual role of global ECD of GM-focused Commonwealth/CCO of MRM Detroit.

Taking over as day-to-day creative leads at McCann Detroit, meanwhile, are Mike Stocker and Robin Chrumka, who joined just last summer and will now assume the roles of EVP/co-ECDs at the agency, which works with clients including GM (duh), ALDI and Pure Michigan. The creative pair has been working together for well over a decade and has a fair share of automotive experience, having spent several years as creative directors at BBDO Detroit overseeing work on the Jeep account.

Another McCann-related p0st, you say? What the hell. Well, it looks like Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group has gone all in with McCann Erickson, handing its full brand advertising duties to the New York office, which picked up AOR duties for its Joe’s Crab Shack chain last November. Apparently, the spot you see above for Joe’s helped spur the move. In a statement, Ignite CMO Robin Ahearn says, “The positive feedback from ‘100% Shore’ and the great working relationship we’ve developed with McCann led to this consolidation. Our goal is to drive frequency with our current guests and introduce our restaurants to new guests across the country.  McCann is helping us do just that.”

As far as Ignite’s new move, McCann NY is now serving as AOR for  Romano’s Macaroni Grill  brand and will handle strategy responsibilities for Brick House Tavern + Tap. From what we’ve been told, there was no review. Instead, McCann NY asked for an opportunity to present ideas for the Romano’s Macaroni Grill business and Ignite gave a thumbs up, awarding Brick House strategy in the process.

Twas a busy day at camp McCann as the Worldgroup has made several promotions within its leadership ranks. Among those getting a bump-up are Michael McLaren, formerly MRM East president and global client solutions director, who has now been made president of MRM’s worldwide operations.

While we’re on the MRM front, Hank Summy, who joined McCann from Sapient in fall 2011 to serve as president, North America, will now serve as president, commerce at the former agency. Meanwhile, current MRM EVP/chief technology officer, North America Andy Jacobs (pictured) will add global responsibilities to his CTO role. Taking over as president at McCann New York will be one Chris Macdonald, most recently chief executive at the agency’s London office. Speaking of McCann London, while Macdonald crosses the pond, Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson, who served as co-ECDs in said office, will be moving up the ladder to serve as co-presidents/chief creative officers. Get all that? Good.

While we’re on the McCann tip, forget about February 14. In Brazil, Ex-Valentine’s Day is April 18th. That means all those weepy single people will have another day to think about their lack of relationship success. For the recently broken-up, Ex-Valentine’s Day (a make-believe day concocted by the parties involved with this effort; Brazilian Valentine’s Day is actually June 12) is also a chance for catharsis (and presumably bad Portuguese chick flicks). The Salvation Army and Sao Paulo/Rio-based WMcCann want to jump in on the romantic purging, asking those who have mountains of useless junk from their exes still sitting around to donate.

With the tagline “Too bad it’s over. But since it’s over, donate,” you can practically feel the lack of sympathy in your bones. But, giving back after a breakup might turn the love karma in your favor. Probably not the most altruistic motives for donating to charity, but a resourceful (and potentially spiteful) way to recycle for those who are less fortunate. If your girlfriend left her favorite jeans in your apartment, you can give them away, and when she comes to reclaim her possessions, you can laugh in her face. Okay, I take back the love karma remark. This campaign will help reuse old goods, but it might actually be brilliantly sadistic. If love gods do exist, they might dislike you. Let’s hope Cupid has a good sense of humor.

Credits after the jump.

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In case you missed the lengthy AdAge piece about this since it was seemingly harder to find than Jimmy Hoffa, we’ve received word from sources familiar with the matter that McCann has indeed won the $50 million account for the American Frozen Food Institute.

The AdAge piece did note that McCann was the odds-on favorite to win the account for the AFFI, a trade/lobbying group of supermarket standards in aisle eight, nine, whatever including Nestle and…wait, where’s the Totino’s Party Pizza? As a result of the win, our sources in the know tell us that McCann, which would not officially comment on the matter (try getting a hold of the AFFI), will handle a national consumer campaign on behalf of the newly formed Frozen Food Roundtable that operates under the auspices of the AFFI.

It took a little while for McCann Erickson to get the OK to comment on nabbing agency of record duties for the United States Postal Service, which has previously worked with Campbell-Ewald on the creative portion of its business. Here’s what Harris Diamond, who took over for Nick Brien as McCann Worldgroup CEO last November, had to say about the USPS win in this statement:  “We are thrilled and honored to be awarded strategic and creative responsibilities for the United States Postal Service.  The Postal Service is as iconic a brand as any in our portfolio, and plays a huge role in our business and personal lives.  We are passionate about supporting its mission and helping it to grow revenue.”

Along with McCann picking up creative/strategic duties, MRM is also in the mix on USPS, which already has contracts with fellow sister Worldgroup agencies, Weber Shandwick and UM. No word yet on who else participated in the creative review. Update: From what sources are telling us, the USPS initially briefed eight agencies and the eventual finalists included JWT, Grey and possibly Y&R.

Thank you, United States Postal Service, for giving the “scoop” to AdAge after we inquired about the client’s decision last Friday that it had chosen McCann as its new agency of record. Apparently, McCann still hasn’t been given the OK to offer official comment, but all we’ve been told by sources familiar with the matter is that “it’s been an odd, though ultimately rewarding process.” We can’t really add anymore, but perhaps this provides some context.

We’ve been hearing about it for days now and here you go. We’ll keep you posted on goings-on if and when they progress, but read on below. As mentioned before, GM is undergoing a major agency shift including most likely shifting Cadillac duties from Fallon to Campbell-Ewald. As for Commonwealth, the Detroit-based operation that was the brainchild of then-GM CMO Joel Ewanick and united Goodby and McCann was formed in nearly a year ago and just put out this effort. Anyhow, see McCann’s messsage:

“McCann Worldgroup, an Interpublic Group company, today announced it will assume sole responsibility for Commonwealth, Chevrolet’s global advertising agency, assuming the 50-percent joint ownership share held by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, an Omnicom Group company.

Commonwealth will continue to serve as Chevrolet’s global advertising agency of record and work in conjunction with both IPG and Omnicom resources, including Agency 720 and Fleishman-Hillard.

All current employees of Goodby’s Detroit office will be offered employment consistent with their current employment terms.”

Instead of churning out a typical camera advertisement, Nikon and McCann put the former’s product–the new D800 Digital SLR–to the test by producing Broken Night, a 10-minute short film capable of displaying its advanced cinematic capabilities. Don’t worry if you’re not a camera geek. The project is meant to appeal to professionals on a technical level, but the film’s story stands on its own legs. Sundance, in fact, selected it for the festival’s 2013 U.S. Narrative Short Film Competition.

Personally, I’m not a fan of horror movies, but this is more cerebral and gothic than a blood-and-guts flick. Oscar nominee Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) wrote and directed the short, and Oscar winner/Steven Spielberg‘s go-to DP Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan) provided the cinematography.

If you’re fed up with the crap currently playing in theaters and reeling from the post-Super Bowl ad hangover, Broken Night is for you. Credits after the jump.

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Barely six months after joining up with WPP-owned 24/7 Real Media, or 24/7 Media as it’s known nowadays sources familiar with the matter confirm that Gary Lee has rejoined the fold as chief financial officer at McCann Worldgroup. Lee replaces Tara Comonte, who has spent the last two-plus years as global CFO at the agency. The returning senior exec originally joined McCann in fall of 2006 after serving in the same role at Ogilvy. We’ve been told by sources that no official start date has been set for Lee, but the incoming CFO will begin anew at McCann some time this month.