Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Mark Reichard has joined Saatchi & Saatchi New York to serve as executive creative director on the agency’s tri-state Toyota Dealers Association account (corporate national Toyota biz, as you probably know, is handled out of Saatchi LA). Reichard, who’s spent the last decade-plus as an SVP/creative director at McCann Detroit, replaces Neal Foard, a 14-year Saatchi vet who left the agency over the summer for the Bay Area to take on the director of creative marketing position at TiVo.

As for Reichard, prior to his lengthy stay at McCann, the creative exec spent a few years as a copywriter at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA.

If the name Kesal Patel doesn’t ring a bell, the techie, as mentioned above, was one of the co-conspirators behind “Romney & Me,” a fun little project from the beginning of this year that let you “Romulate” and see how your wages translate in Mitt Romney‘s world. Too bad that the site appears to be down now, but nonetheless, Patel has moved on since then and has now joined up with Saatchi & Saatchi New York as a creative technologist. From what we’ve been told, he’ll be focusing on the P&G business.

Prior to Saatchi, Patel spent a year as technical lead at BBDO New York, working across accounts including AT&T, FedEx and HBO. During his career, the new Saatchi hire also spent time on the dev/tech side at the likes of Conde Nast and ESPN.

As any Internet humorist will tell you, felines are one of the few animals you can always laugh at when they hurt themselves. If a dog hurts itself, it’s generally a pretty sad affair (see Homeward Bound when “Shadow” tweaks his ankle attempting to crawl out of a 12-foot pit). If a cat hurts itself, it’s probably a good bet that it deserved it in some way (see Homeward Bound when “Sassy” gets flung about 40 yards off a teeter-totter into a sandbox). If you are over 30, you probably do not understand my Homeward Bound references in the least.

For the campaign ringing in the launch of Toyota’s new 2013 model of the Corolla, the folks at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand decided to put the world’s love affair with delighting in cats’ pain to the test. We see a sad feline stuffed into a cat carrier to be hauled off to the vet, only to experience the ride of its life in the back of a 2013 Corolla. Really, what cat wouldn’t be absolutely enthralled by the Corolla’s spacious and luxurious interior? Well, as you might guess, the cat associates harm with a chance to ride in the back of the car, and its fucked-up mental state leads to it harming itself in tragic ways that your whole family will guffaw at.

As with most individuals who find themselves associating pain with pleasure to an extreme extent, the kitty’s strange fetish leads to its demise. It just felt so good inside, you know? These things happen, and the cat’s transformation into zombie cat will most certainly make your children beg for a Toyota Corolla. Credits after the jump.

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During the now-tired manly man spokesperson ad trend that’s been beaten to death over the last few years, I’ve always had a soft spot for Keystone’s trucker hat-wearing mascot, Keith Stone. I guess it’s because Keith was actually a somewhat recognizable archetype, whereas his fellow manly spokesmen look nothing like the consumer they’re attempting to appeal to. The difference is that you can actually picture a dude who looks likes Keith walking into your local convenience store, grabbing a case of Keystone, and handing a series of crumpled bills and loose change from his pocket to the cashier before jumping in his rusted pickup.

There’s a degree of honesty to Keith that, when backed up by some insight, can work very well. Such is the case with the above spot, one in a trio from Saatchi and Saatchi NY and Tool director JJ Adler. What “true” guy wouldn’t agree with Keith and admit that yes, emoticons are an incredibly maddening way for other dudes to express themselves? Whenever I get a text message or IM from a friend that contains an emoticon, it’s nearly impossible not to let out a sigh of resignation. Add to that some great copy, and Keith Stone not only becomes a symbol of manliness–he becomes a symbol of integrity, dammit!

I wish I could say the same for the other two spots, both of which exchange this keen insight for the trite “guys will be guys” subjects that have existed as long as the idea of manliness has. Real men drink beer instead of eat salad? Keith, you can do better than that. If I wanted to know that men like bacon, I would ask the Dr. Pepper 10 guy. One more spot about fist-bumping along with credits follows after the jump.

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From Del Campo Saatchi and Saatchi comes yet another spot for Argentinian beer Andes, a product of Anheuser-Busch InBev that is (maybe, but probably not) the brew giant’s equivalent of Michelob. We meet an attractive young man with a horrifying affliction–he has empty beer bottles for hands. It’s kind of like (¡EL SPOILER!) Edward Scissorhands, except with beer bottles, you follow? Okay, cool.

Anyway, we can assume the team at Del Campo Saatchi and Saatchi decided to have a little fun of the brief, taking the ol’ “What problem does this solve?” approach to Andes’ new wide-mouth bottles and making up a silly non-problem for “A Singular Man.” I mean, really, the only reason we have wide-mouth anythings is because the developed world contains a bunch of fatty-fat-fats who feel the need to consume food and beverage in greater volumes in order to support their bloated stomachs. It’s either that, or, you know, people who self-medicate by binge-drinking away their problems.

We wish you well, Argentinians who inevitably will smirk like idiots when they replicate this spot and dunk their fingers into their bottles. We doubt that Budweiser introduces their own bottles of similar design to the States with a spot that doesn’t feature a bunch of young models chugging beer at a beach party or something. Credits after the jump.

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Well, the tips have been coming in and calls/emails to both the party involved and agency PR folks have been left unanswered thus far. But since yesterday, we’ve been hearing that Tyler Murray, who’s spent the last three-plus years at the Arkansas headquarters of Saatchi & Saatchi X (aka Saatchi’s shopper marketing branch) and currently serves as VP of digital and media, has resigned from the agency. Spies are alleging that Murray is splitting for a gig at the Dallas hub of TracyLocke, which just happens to be quoted alongside the exec in a recent Adweek article. Don’t know if it’s something that makes you go hmm-worthy, but we’re continuing to check with everyone involved on this front.

Update: Well, we were two-for-two on this We Hear item, as Murray did indeed leave Saatchi and has joined TracyLocke in Dallas. The latter agency tells us, “Start date is Aug 13th and he is heading up digital/mobile strategy consistent with our mission of creating content that drives commerce.”

Just over a year after joining up with TBWA\Chiat\Day NY as a planning director, Ed Tsue is on the move once again. Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Tsue assumed a global planning director position this week at Saatchi & Saatchi NY. From what we’ve been told, Tsue is one of four global planning directors in Saatchi’s strategic planning department of approximately 35. He will focus his efforts on the agency’s Lenovo and Kraft accounts.

Prior to his move to Chiat NY last year, Tsue spent 18 months as a planning director at BBH’s Shanghai office. During his career, he’s had stints on the account/brand management side at the likes of SapientNitro and CP+B.

From Saatchi & Saatchi and Genero.tv comes a new contest for filmmakers that honors the late “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” James Brown.

In May, iTunes re-released Brown’s entire catalog, and his famous Live at the Apollo performance will see a re-issue later this year. In celebration, Saatchi and Genero.tv are challenging aspiring filmmakers to create a music video for one of four of Brown’s most songs, “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” “Sex Machine,” “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “I Try.” Now, if this was my music video contest (which it’s not), I would totally replace “I Try” with “I Got the Feelin’,” but that’s why I don’t make the big bucks.

Entrants have until Monday, July 16 to record and upload their video, which will be judged by panelists from Saatchi, Genero.tv, BUG, and Universal Music. The finalists will receive $4,000, and the grand prize winner will get an opportunity to work on a project in a “key office” around the Saatchi & Saatchi global network.

Get more info and see the current entries at Genero.tv’s website here. And, of course, here’s some James Brown to help kick you off into the weekend. Also, PRO TIP: Whenever you have to clean your house or apartment in preparation for company, James Brown’s 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! is the way to go.

Later this month, Saatchi & Saatchi’s Madrid branch will be relaunched as Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi España and helped be led, appropriately enough, by Pablo Del Campo, who currently serves as chief exec of Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi Argentina. You might know the latter, 12-year-old agency from its nifty work for Andes beer including the award-winning “Teletransporter” effort from early 2010.

Anyhow, joining Del Campo will be the Argentinean office’s executive creative directors, Maxi Itzkoff and Mariano Serkin, who will also continue their remit in Buenos Aires, as well as creative directors Angel Torres and Lucas Paulino.  Meanwhile, the newly rechristened Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi España will still count Spanish region CEO Felipe San Juan as its top exec. In a statement, Del Campo himself says, “I can’t think of another country that wears the title ‘creative nation’ better than Spain, and I am looking forward to making a contribution to our team, our clients, and to the country’s economic progress.”

Three months after resigning from Grey New York to “pursue other opportunities,” Natalia Schultz has found a new gig at Saatchi & Saatchi as EVP, chief talent officer of the Americas. Schultz started this week and will be based in Saatchi’s New York office. Prior to assuming her new role, the exec spent 11 years at Grey, moving up from new business director to her most recent position as EVP, chief talent and development officer (Schultz was eventually replaced by Lisa Fabiano in April). Saatchi & Saatchi CEO and chair of the Americas Mary Baglivo sent a memo to staff regarding Schultz’s arrival. Read below and after the jump if you’d like.

“Dear Saatchi & Saatchi Everyone,

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Natalia Schultz, our new Chief Talent Officer of the Americas.

She joins us from Grey Worldwide where she was responsible for strategic management of all HR operations; most recently as EVP, Chief Talent Officer.

Natalia brings a wealth of stellar business experience, restless passion, and an innate ability to forge deep personal connections.

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