As you click this day-before-the-4th away, just anticipating the afternoon school bell letting out, just remember the men and women that made this great holiday possible. I know I do. Thanks history!

I hope your cars were prepacked and the kiddies all made it home from the park early, cuz' today's traffic is supposed to be worse than it as been in a long time.

On that note, you should know that longtime Discover card media communications agency Starcom Worldwide has apparently "resigned" from the account.

Here's hoping that the weekend will help everyone forget that we're all effing screwed. Happy holidays!

Ricoh Americas Corporation is working to reduce their carbon footprint. Ricoh Company, Ltd. of Tokyo, aanounced that its jumbotron sign in Times Square that will be 100 percent powered by solar and wind power. This is the first ever electronic billboard to be totally powered by natural resources in Times Square. The sign will be will be at 3 Times Square (7th Avenue and 42nd Street).

The sign is 47 feet high by 126 feet long and will be lit by floodlights and powered by 45 solar panels and 4 turbines for wind generation. It is said that this byt this sign using all natural energy sources that Ricoh will reduce the amount of CO2 usage by 18 tons per year.

And there is no electirc backup, if there is not enough solar or wind power, the Times Square sign will simply not be illuminated. They also currently have an eco-powered sign in Osaka, Japan, that uses 100 percent solar and wind power.

This doesn't appear to be a gimmick for these guys either. Ricoh has been environmentally conscious for over 30 years. In 1976 Ricoh established an Environmental Protection Group to keep their environmental goals and strategies a key consideration when planning, developing, designing and promoting new products and services.

It's nice to see a company that is actually doing something because they care and not just because they know it will increase their sales.

That is the question that BzzAgent, a Boston-based word-of-mouth marketing agency asked. And they figured out that a conversation by one of its 425,000 agents on behalf of a brand is worth half a dollar. "A 50 cent cost per conversation is the norm," is what BzzAgent president, Dave Balter says. A recent article in Brandweek talks about how the word-of-mouth marketing industy is lurching towards some sort of standardized ROI metric, but that still hasn't been defined.

Some say that calls into question how effective this type of advertising/viral marketing really is. If you can't put a figure on what is being gained, how can you know that you're reaching your specific target?

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It appears that NBC's "Dateline: To Catch a Predator" series will not tape any new shows after settling a lawsuit filed by the brother of the Texas county prosecutor that killed himself after being exposed by the show. The show reported explicit communication between the prosecutor and one of the show's investigative team members posing as a minor to the local authorities who then headed to his home to arrest him. Before the arrest could be made, he shot himself. The $150 million lawsuit settlement appears to be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back."

For the like three or four of you that haven't seen it- The show often showed activist group, Perverted Justice, engaging in communication with men believing they were contacting underage boys and girls for sexual encounters and then luring them to a house where the cameras would "catch" them in the act and local authorities would be waiting to arrest them. It was a wildly popular show. But it turns out that many of the charges in the arrests made were ultimately dropped.

NBC says it stands by the investigations, but thinks the series has become to highly charged to continue. Seems like the show was difficult to sustain even without its legal troubles. Towards the end of production for the show, the NY Times talked about how advertisers were distancing themselves from the show anyway. No one wanted to be associated with a show about pedophiles. And it's said that NBC "spent tens of thousands of dollars on each sting, installing hidden cameras and microphones. It has also paid Perverted Justice a consulting fee of roughly $70,000 for each episode."

So while the show was good for viewership it was bad for business. I guess NBC won't be going down that road again.

You may have heard by now, via Tribble, AdAge or the grapevine, BBDO won a few things over in Cannes. One of those awards, says Big Spaceship CEO Mike Lebowitz, should have gone to his agency.

BS put together a little Web site for HBO Voyeur that's setting a standard in the digital approach. But since BS was commissioned by BBDO (which has laid claim to the "idea"), the Cannes judges didn't recognize BS's efforts.

Not the first time this kind of thing has happened, so why the hubbub? Lebowitz is calling for a change to the antiquated system.

"This isn't about digital agencies getting credit," and "it's not just about BBDO and Big Spaceship," said Mr. Lebowitz. "It's a larger problem, and it's about shifting the tenor of the industry overall."

He had a few choice words about BBDO's participation in the debaucle, noting that they're not "completely innocent in this...I tremendously admire what BBDO did ... they shot an incredible piece of film. But to qualify us as a production company is to sell short the tremendous amount of insight it takes to take a traditional piece of media and put it out into the world in a natively digital way. Certainly, a lot of people came up to me and said 'sorry' when I was in Cannes."

We're sorry, too. And with no further adieu, here's our contribution to fixing the issue.

Check out Parker's take on a similar Cannes screw up.

Of course, we never thought that the ad industry was the only place taking a hit in terms of unemployment rates. But it's always surprising how devasted and desperate some people are for work these day. Everyday I hear something that reiterates what a down economy we are in.

I just read an article in the NY Sun about an investment banker who is standing out on 50th and Park advertising himself to get a job. The article talks about how this guy, Joshua Persky, lost his job six months ago and has watched more and more people in his field be fired since then. So he decided to go further than just sending out his resume and reaching out to his connections. He is wearing a sandwich board on the corner and hoping the right someone will notice.

I think all of the unemployed ad guys should get together and create your own unemployment campaign. What would be the best way to market yourself?

thespywriter@gmail.com

JC Penney's apparently had no idea this spot was made, and AOR Saatchi & Saatchi reportedly was none the wiser, either. The guilty party, according to the Wall Street Journal, is Epoch Films — which had been working with S&S for the client.

So proud of the work, Epoch apparently entered "Speed Dressing" at Cannes, and won.

From WJS:

"In a statement late Monday, Saatchi, a unit of Publicis Groupe SA, said the ad was created by a third-party vendor 'without J.C. Penney's knowledge or consent...Saatchi & Saatchi did not enter the spot and deeply regrets the message this ad presents.' Epoch Films, the New York production company that was listed as entering the ad in the Cannes Lions Awards, declined to comment."

Question: Why would Epoch knowingly create and enter work that its client wasn't aware of and expect that the sexually charged message would be acceptable for the traditionally genital-less Penney's?

What's more, the spot won at Cannes...

Reuters reports today that the Federal Communications Commission will be studying the use of product placement in television media. According to the article, there was a 13 percent increase in PP from 2006-2007. It feels like a lot more than that, in reality.

"Product Integration," has been likened to the Trojan horse, duping consumers somehow. (WTF?) And apparently, the practice somehow diminishes our viewing experience. But doesn't the FCC realize that without PP, many programs couldn't make it? Why would a government agency be against money? Feels to me like they're losing power and want to grab at this one before they go down.

Nevertheless, this was my favorite quote from the story:

"'We must not allow television programs to become Trojan horses, carrying messages that would otherwise be criticized by the public or even deemed illegal,' wrote the coalition, which includes Public Citizen and the Parents Television Council.'"

Some of the worst (or best, depending) product placers include Apple (take your pick), Dr. Pepper (Spiderman), Nissan (Heroes) — they even went so far as to write the Versa into their script...the list goes on.

But is it really so bad? Discus.
More after the jump.

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Well in case you haven't been to Coney Island in awhile, nothing's changed. Oh, except it still takes 45 minutes to get there from Manhattan.

Nevertheless, Agency Spy was there Thursday night. It's been a long wait for Rob Wenger, the dude who came up with VirtualDrinkingBuddy dot com. Way to go Rob. I'm seriously envious of the Iro, that's a sweet bike.

If you haven't checked out Rob's part of The Knot campaign, that's cool. You can see it here. Thanks to Rob, no one will have to drink whiskey alone ever again. If you haven't seen the Iro Cycle site, you should take a moment and have some fun.

Every once in awhile, we like to take a moment and look back to the annuls of addie history, to a time when consumerism was in its infancy and the industry that's become so screwed up today was creating a little thing called "Americana" and forever changing our lives.

To commemorate the men and women behind advertising's great early works, the New York Public library is hosting an exhibition of sorts, which officially begins tomorrow. And being that it's our job to keep you informed on this stuff, we'll be there tonight for the grand opening thing that you have to be invited to. Check back for photos and commentary.

Also, I'm pretty sure anyone that RSVPs can come to tonight's opening (which is like a pre-opening event). To find out more, contact Diane Stefani at diane at rosengrouppr dot com.

Full release after the jump. New York Public Library event page here.

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