Considering the Bears and Packers are perennial division rivals, it’s no wonder why DDB Chicago continues giving the latter team’s star QB Aaron Rodgers grief in its ongoing campaign for State Farm. In this latest spot for the insurance brand, Rodgers does career day, and as you’d expect, he gets no respect, even from kids, for his multimillion-dollar profession. Is Rodgers the Rodney Dangerfield of the NFL? Well, whatever the case, his “Title Belt” touchdown move has forever been tainted thanks to this campaign, which albeit has been fairly amusing since its launch a year ago. Maybe now Rodgers can just focus on helping turn around the Packers’ season.  Credits after the jump.

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Twenty-year IPG vet Peter McGuinness is splitting for rival holding company Omnicom and joining DDB Chicago as president/CEO. McGuinness, who has spent the last three years in the same post at NYC-based Gotham, replaces Rick Carpenter, who parted ways with DDB last December to “begin the next phase” of his career. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the new DDB Chicago president/CEO, who says in a statement, “Chicago is where I was born so it’s a bit of a homecoming, and it’s at the heart of DDB.  I can’t wait to bring some heat to the windy city.”

During his two decades at IPG, McGuinness was named EVP/worldwide account director at McCann Worldgroup before he turned 30, eventually playing a pivotal role in bringing MasterCard’s “Priceless” campaign to the masses. By the time he hit 35, the exec was named regional director, EMEA for IPG’s Momentum and was eventually inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement two years ago.

In his new role, McGuinness will work alongside DDB Chicago’s CCO Ewan Paterson, who has been on somewhat of a hiring streak as of late.

Nearly two months after we first reported that Ewan Paterson‘s old chums from London’s CHI & Partners–Matt Collier and Wayne Robinson–would be reuniting with him at DDB Chicago this summer, the latter agency has now confirmed that the pair has officially joined as creative directors, and ahead of schedule from the looks of it.

In their new roles, Collier and Robinson will across DDB Chicago’s client roster, which now includes the likes of Sierra Mist and several Mars brands. Though the creative duo has spent the past five years at CHI & Partners, where they recently won a D&AD Yellow Pencil and Campaign Best Print Ad honors for their Sunday Times “Rich List,” their relationship dates back several more to the days of Mother and JWT London.

During the course of their career, they’ve worked on Shell, Mazda, Toyota, Nestle and 888.com and have garnered over 150 awards in the process. Their mate and current DDB Chicago CCO Paterson says of the pair, “Matt and Wayne are one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with. They have the talent and the hunger that produce a relentless flow of award-winning and new-business-winning ideas, and what’s more, they have the ability to create a staggering diversity of work that crosses all media channels.”

Now that he’s been CCO of DDB Chicago for well over a year now, it looks like Ewan Paterson is feeling comfy enough to entice a couple of old mates from his former stomping grounds, CHI London, to join him in the Windy City. We’ve received confirmation that the creative team of Matt Collier and Wayne Robinson will be leaving their posts at CHI & Partners and will most likely land at DDB Chicago by August (as you know, Visa issues can be a pain these days).

Matt & Wayne started their partnership at Mother before heading to JWT London, where they spent seven years, worked on accounts including Shell and were part of the team that helped win the $600 million global HSBC account from Lowe back in ’04. During their four-plus years at CHI, meanwhile, the pair has been responsible for notable print efforts including Sunday Times “Rich List” among others. Since their is still some lead time for their arrival, Robinson and Collier’s exact titles, start dates at DDB have yet to be revealed.

Along with the CHI alums, DDB Chicago has also added Paul Cohen as head of art.

What better way to launch your line of premium frozen drinks than with the help of former Sopranos star Steve Schirripa? Yep, that Lemon doubled as fictional TV mobster in a past life, and now its pushing McDonald’s new fruity drinks right in time for the summer. Why make premium chilled drinks? Well, as I’m sure DDB Chicago can tell you, the McDonald’s right across the street from Wrigley Field will sell these like crazy as the heat turns up in the Windy City.

The Frozen Strawberry Lemonade campaign also features some fun, animated online work from Tribal DDB where the talking lemon embraces its roots (literally) and narrates what happens when life gives you lemons. Sure, it might not be the most innovative, grandiose campaign we’ve seen from Mickey D’s, but at least it gets us in the mood for what will hopefully be a summer to remember. It’s cute, so don’t over-think it. Credits after the jump.

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DDB Chicago veterans Mark Gross and Bill Cimino have reason to celebrate this week as they’ve been promoted to executive creative directors at the agency. The duo, who will report to CCO Ewan Paterson (pictured middle), have nearly 35 years combined experience under their belt at DDB’s Windy City office.

Cimino (pictured right) started at the agency as a copywriter in 1993, then moved up to CD on accounts including Anheuser-Busch InBev and State Farm before assuming the GCD title on the McDonald’s account in 2006. Gross (pictured left), meanwhile, began as an AD at DDB in 1994 and eventually wound up as GCD on Bud Light (“Real Men of Genius,” for example), Bud Light Lime and Cars.com.

It appears that with their new titles comes an increased focus on increasing DDB’s digital presence, with Gross adding in a statement, “Bill and I will work incredibly hard to make the agency the most integrated, technologically advanced and forward-thinking shop in the industry.” Could be one hell of an undertaking, we think.

We just received a call from the folks at DDB who have let us know that Rick Carpenter, who has served as president/CEO at DDB Chicago for just about three years, is resigning. Not much of a reason given, but we’ve been told it was “just time.”

While the agency recruits a new leader, Mark O’Brien, who just took over as president of DDB’s North American operation, will serve as interim head of the Chicago office along with CCO Ewan Paterson, who joined the shop earlier this year. In a statement, Carpenter says:

“After much consideration, given my own career aspirations, I have decided to resign from DDB Chicago and begin the next phase of my career.  I will stay on through the end of the year to help assure a smooth transition. I am extremely proud of my tenure and accomplishments at DDB in both LA and Chicago and I have been fortunate to work with so many wonderful people and extraordinary talents during my time at DDB.

I am currently weighing a couple of options. I love the agency world and in all likelihood will stay in the agency business, but considering the changes in our industry, I could just as easily apply my experience and skills to any number of companies that place a high value on creativity to build brand and build business.”