TBWA/Chiat Day

TBWA\Chiat\Day's Jason Nichols directed this spot for Movember, the only month when it's acceptable to be a total bum and grow your dirtiest stache. Why? Because prostate cancer will kill your ass (heh).

Here's another, where one of the dudes goes "they got nothin' on this prostate" — a line that should be added to the annals (heh, again) of history.

Via AdsOfTheWorld

More: "Everywhere, Mustache"

New York-based TBWA\WorldHealth welcomed Gary Wenzel as President. Wenzel, who most recently served as COO of TBWA\Hakuhodo in Tokyo, has worked within the TBWA network since 2001 when he joined as President/CEO of \G1 Worldwide. Joining Wenzel at \WorldHealth is ECD Steve Pashkoff, a Grey and Saatchi Healthcare alum.

In a statement regarding Pashkoff, Chiat NY Chairman/CCO Mark Figliulo says, "We have worked very hard to find the best talent in the business to bolster the agency's healthcare offering. Steve brings with him 28 years of advertising experience, the last 12 of which have been solely devoted to pharmaceutical healthcare. His appointment puts in place the talent needed to grow and better serve our clients."

More: "Duncan Milner Promoted to CCO at TBWA\Media Arts Lab"

Our previous post about Duncan Milner's promotion to CCO at TBWA\Media Arts Lab led some commenters to surmise that Lee Clow was "stepping down" or "quietly stepping away."

As a result, Clow sent a letter to staffers which we've obtained where he says he's "not going anywhere", adding "look at how the blogosphere decided to make it a conversation about me." First off, we didn't make it about him; we believe we reported a story accurately that focused on Milner. Second, we don't speak for our commenters and vice versa, so let's keep it at that. Anyways, if you care to read his brief internal opus, it's after the jump.

More: "We Hear: Lee Clow's Had Enough"

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Boards is reporting that TBWA\Media Arts Lab ECD Duncan Milner has officially taken over for Lee Clow as Chief Creative Officer of MAL (TBWA has confirmed this to us as well). According to the report, Milner, who's been with TBWA for 18 years and most recently led the creative on Apple, was actually promoted internally last month (though he has actually been listed on the credits of the most recent Apple spots as CCO). Clow meanwhile will remain Chairman of TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

More: "We Hear: Lee Clow's Had Enough"

John Hunt is TBWA's Worldwide Creative Director and wouldn't you know it — he's written a book called "The Art of the Idea" — which includes things like quotes about Nelson Mandela (sunrise, sunset) and quips about what it means to have ideas.

And there's a party for the launch, too! Interestingly, I've received the invite a few times, but never from the luminaries at TBWA, always from some smart person who was invited to go and thought I'd like to know about it. TBWA doesn't like me, so they play the cold shoulder game. Well, now let's play the, "is Matt going to show up and make it awkward for everyone" game. I'm reigning champ, bitches.

Matt: "BBDO and TBWA Swap Junk Food for Cat Food"

It seems that we're never in short supply of TBWA drama lately. As an addendum to this morning's news of Jason Nichols and (possibly) Joe Shands' exits, the latest scoop from Chiat LA-la-land is that Lee Clow himself is now stepping in to sort out the Nissan/Infiniti account, leaving GCD Kerry Feuerman "relegated to retail style ads for Nissan" according to tipsters.

We're hearing that Clow is intent on "cleaning up the lackluster work of the GCD and mass exodus of top Nissan creatives because of lack of confidence." Apparently the Nissan and Infiniti accounts are "down to only 6 creatives" (though we're not sure if that means each or combined). Since it seems AgencySpy and Chiat aren't on speaking terms these days, verification of this is a bit tricky. If you have more info, feel free to hit us up at agencyspy at gmail dot com.

More: "Adweek Gets the TBWA Layoff Story, A Week Later"

Just five months after joining Chiat LA as interactive CD on Pepsi, sources have confirmed that Jason Nichols has left the agency, continuing the quick turnover trend that's seemingly plagued the agency throughout this year.

Nichols, who worked as a copy director at R/GA on Nike and Nokia prior to joining Chiat, is rumored to be "headed to Austin to start his own shop" according to a tipster--though that is still unsubstantiated. In addition, we're hearing that Nichols quit the same time as another Pepsi CD, Joe Shands.

More: "Goodby Alum Will Hammond Joins Chiat LA as CD"

Former Goodby ACD Will Hammond is heading to Los Angeles to join TBWA\Chiat\Day, where he will serve as creative director on Visa.

Prior to Goodby, Hammond also held stints at DDB Canada, Ogilvy Johannesburg and Saatchi & Saatchi Johannesburg. Joining him on the Visa account at Chiat will be AKQA alum Shaun Rance, who will serve as interaction designer.

Chiat LA also promoted Dana Markee and Xanthe Hohalek to ACDs with the former set to work on Visa as well while the latter will focus on Pepsi.

More: "Chiat LA Promotes Dan Goldstein to Executive Director of Planning"

Let's take a moment to make a brief point to you fine people. It's about the TBWA\Chiat\Day New York layoffs that went down a week ago today.

On September 17 (aka last Thursday), a source from TBWA told us that up to 20 were let go. We contacted the agency to confirm/deny, and got no response.

That wasn't surprising, since the agency's PR team hasn't so much as made a peep to us since, like, July. But now AdWeek has their piece up (did I mention it's been a week?) and there is even a quote (and an allusion to a quote, too) from Jamie Gallo.

Apparently it's best to wait these things out — let the dust settle and then stir it up again. Chiat could have gotten this story out of the way a week ago, but now here it is again a week later for the entire industry to see.

For the record, we made multiple attempts to reach Chiat regarding this story. Now, there's no rule stating an email/phone call must be returned. But this is some seriously wacky PR strategy, no?

Think of it this way: had Chiat answered my emails, I would have published their comment and whatever details were pertinent, thus leaving AdWeek without "new", confirmed details. Note that AdWeek reports 15-20 staff were let go, and we had heard that about 20 were let go. Had we been able to officially confirm this with the agency, AdWeek might not have run their piece a week later, because the story is more than dead.

Image via Adland

More: "We Hear: Layoffs at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY and Leo Burnett Chicago"

Deaf Awareness Week has borrowed an idea from TBWA\Chiat\Day for their campaign highlighting the dangers of playing your Mp3s too loud. Apparently it's for the National Foundation for the Deaf, a New Zealand organization.

TBWA did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but being that this is for a good cause and all our guess is they don't mind terribly. The ad reads: "Mp3 players do permanent damage to young ears. Check your volume levels at saveyourhearing.org.nz."

Via CampaignBrief

More: "Hey BBDO, Creative Commandment #7 Is: Thou Shall Not Steal From Spike Jonze"