News

-He left home without us. Legendary actor/pitchman Karl Malden, recognized in the ad world for his memorable tagline for American Express Travelers Cheques, has passed away at 97. link

-Hi-speed mobile internet brand Clear has, via Secret Weapon Marketing, expanded its integrated WiMax campaign to include an outdoor component at a Portland stall ...or at least we thought it was a stall. Regardless, mobile usage never felt so dirty. link

-Rob Horning from arts & entertainment blog Popmatters offers a thesis of sorts that equates advertising to placebos. Just skip a few paragraphs down if you must. link

-W+K, London has launched Platform, an "ideas incubator" that hopes to staff creatives outside the ad realm. Some folks just can't cut a break. link

-Joseph Jaffe calls time of death on the 30-second spot right after the closing night of Cannes. link

-The fashionistas at Chanel school editors, advertisers and creatives about the proper use of the brand name. link

More: "Tuesday Odds and Ends"

It's been one of those weeks in the adversphere. Following our previous post on the spate of (maybe) layoffs, we return to bring you some more not-so-great news of a smaller scale in the agency world. Kansas City-based Nicholson Kovac lost the Embarq telephone business, which our tipster tells us accounts for half of the agency's billing (the agency, though, is now saying it's only their third-largest client). But all is not lost according to NK's president/CEO F. Peter Kovac, who offered this late evening retort:

"Goodness, word travels fast!

As you are probably aware, Embarq was acquired by CenturyTel months ago. The final closing is planned to take place tomorrow, Wednesday, July 1.

CenturyTel's management elected to retain their existing agency partners who they have been working with for their creative and media needs prior to the acquisition. Nicholson Kovac was Embarq's consumer media agency of record and will not be working with the newly merged organization (CenturyLink). Our Sprint/Embarq relationship spanned 25 years, so we were certainly disappointed by this event. No layoffs are planned since we have been adding new clients to our roster."

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More: "Holy (maybe) Layoffs Batman!"

When we first reported that there were changes coming to the Nissan group out in LA, it seemed odd that Designory and Critical Mass were both kept on. Today, two independent sources inform us that last week, Designory employees were told that the shop's status as agency of record for interactive has moved to Critical Mass.

We're not sure what that means in terms of workload and creative, but presumably the ball is in CM's court.

Neither agency returned calls for comment by the time this story was published.

Update: We're now hearing that CM let go of about 30 people last week Friday as a result of the shrinking Nissan budget.

More: "Chiat LA's Becoming a Tight Knit Group"

There's very little going on in Cannes these days, so why not just skip it all like Alex Bogusky: "I had to cancel my Cannes trip," he said via Twitter. "Is that Wrath of Cannes party still on? I can't go to that either but maybe a video link would be cool." Yes Al, tis going on — tonight! More info here.

Winners:
Via Adrants —
Design: "Paper Battlefield" for Nike Hong Kong by McCann Worldgroup/Causeway Bay.

Press: "We Are Animals," by FRED & FARID/Paris for Wrangler.

Cyber: "Best Job in the World" by Cumminsnitro/Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.

News Roundup
— Mother leads UK chase for 2009 Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix

— Microsoft, Publicis Launch Digital Advertising Agreement

— Ad execs take lessons from celebrities at Cannes

— An interview with Andrea Stillacci, co-president and CCO of Grey Paris

— Winner of the Cannes 2009 Cyber Grand Prix in the viral category: Dark Knight, Why So Serious?

— Steve Van Zandt in Cannes!

— Martin Sorrell on Cannes Lions '09

— Apparently, Cannes is more relaxed this year

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More: "Wrath of Cannes: Come, drink with me"

Rocker Eddie Van Halen has traded his axe for a lawyer this week, filing suit against Nike for lifting the red, black and white stripe design of his gee-tars and emblazoning it on their new line of Dunk Lows kicks.

Van Halen, who's been wielding and shredding on guitars with this design since 1978, is seeking the usual damages, all profits from Dunk Lows sales, a permanent injunction halting the production of the shoes and as icing on the poundcake, "the impoundment and destruction of all footwear."

Nike in kind replied to Spinner that Van Halen's suit had no merit...though one can deduce that the man's motivation can be equally attributed to the launch of his own high and low-top sneakers.

Via

More: "Wieden + Kennedy Employs Charlie Murphy, Kobe, Lebron"

— Ha ha, FedEx is sticking it to UPS's white board guy. link

— Digital coup: Tribal DDB beat traditional agencies for integrated campaign re: Cibavision. Twas a 22 week pitch and now they're probably hiring. No link, came from an e-mail that warranted not a post.

— Things in Cannes don't really heat up until Wednesday. link

— Speaking of Cannes, Adweek's Brian Morrissey and co. are populating this site with tons of stuff about the festa. (note: Morrissey pretty much is Adweek these days, no?) link

— Using hyperbole sometimes dilutes a good point. Yes, the Web should be free. link

— Auto advertising may not be "down" as much as you think. link

— R/GA CCO Nick Law, alleged ginormous fan of AgencySpy (this blog!), is getting his drink on at the Gutter Bar (that's in Cannes). 10 points for the first pic of him ordering a pint and raising it to us lowly bloggers back here in NYC. link

— Tonight, I will use this headline to help me fall asleep: TiVo, Quantcast Prep Blended TV-Web Audience Data. link

— That racy Calvin Klein billboard we didn't mention because we mentioned it like 4 months ago has been replaced. See above. link

More: "The New Face Of Calvin Klein Undies: Eva Mendes"

Despite several reports over the past two weeks that Pizza Hut is slicing out the word "Pizza" and rebranding itself as "The Hut", the stalwart Yum Brands chain finally issued a statement to the contrary on Friday.

While our sister blog PRNewser offers a full report including the press release, we managed to snag a quick explanation regarding the rumors from Pizza Hut spokesman Chris Fuller, who says:

"We just started using [The Hut] more and more in our marketing. And with text and mobile ordering, it's just easier to type in 'The Hut'. From there, we went for a cleaner, more contemporary look to put on our pizza boxes, but there is no name change. [The Hut] is never a standalone marketing technique."

BBDO, the chain's AOR, further validated the company's response, stating that they are unaware of any marketing plans to coincide with "The Hut." Pizza Hut loyalists, you can now breathe a sigh of relief. So much for all the Star Wars and Spaceballs jokes, though.

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More: "Breaking: BBDO Detroit Sending Most Employees on 2 Week Furlough in June"

It was just a year ago that WPP pulled out of a little 25% ownership stake in Imago Young & Rubicam, a shop in Zimbabwe that aided in the re-election campaign of President Robert Mugabe. But as B|Net reports, WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell sat in on a pitch where the country's new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured) — who btw since coming on has helped bring Zimbabwe's inflation rate from 5 billion percent to just 3 — who explained why his country should not be overlooked.

Maybe WPP never wanted to get out in the first place, but it's understandable why they did. The association with Mugabe's re-election was awful since the country's people are suffering from gross misuse of natural resources, human rights violations and more — much at Mugabe's hand.

More: "Sorrell Gets The Hell Out Of Zimbabwe"

It's that time again to take a look outside our AgencySpy microcosm and see what else has been brewing in the adversphere. Mature ladies, revolutionaries and Dianetics followers all get their late evening nods from across the web.

-Digital production shop B-Reel has joined forces with St. Paul Film to launch its commercial production division creatively titled B-Reel Films. link

-Jalopnik has unveiled its gallery of the "Seven Sexiest Auto Sportscougars". Why purr when you can roar? link

-Thetans unite! The Church of Scientology is turning to the telly to recruit new members with a 30-second spot now airing on CNN. Don't tell me they got Blitzer! link

-Speaking of Scientology...Anonymous, the group whose goal it is to bring down the house that Hubbard built, has teamed with Swedish torrent mavens Pirate Bay to launch the site Anonymous Iran. True to form, the law-baiting alliance's intention is to provide tips on navigating online and uploading files through Iranian firewall, locate activist Tweeters and combat pro-government websites. Let the revolution begin. link

-W+K London's hiring methods raise some eyebrows. link

-Staples turns to Facebook to launch an application where kids can fill a virtual backpack with supplies, buy them at the store and then donate them to poverty-stricken fellow students. "Easy" button not required. link

Whether its creation can be attributed to sincerity, madness or utter boredom, the Destructive Comments Genome Project has nevertheless been launched by Tampa-based CD/copywriter George Fuller. What is it, pray tell? Well, according to the man himself, the DCGP is a "definitive" list that he's compiling of all the scathing back-and-forth barbs shared between creatives and account managers revolving around client work.

Fuller's goal it seems is to highlight the fragile dynamic between the right and left-brainers and the flippant remarks that can turn the internal office atmosphere from constructive to destructive. The 30-year ad vet, who for some reason desires to be "the national repository of insults...that drive us all nuts", is soliciting input from the advertising masses on the DCGP homepage. Here, you can check out the current list, which is split into comments from the creative and account end. Though from initial glance, Fuller could take more liberties with the amount of actual profanity that's spouted within these conversations.

If you're not sold yet, the head of Cranial Garage also offers you his music video "The Fight Song," a bluegrass-rock ditty which despite its questionable production value and songcraft, better illustrates the goal of the Project.

You feeling destructive yet?