Hasta La Creative!

Um, right. And we’re supposed to believe a simple pair of Timberland sneakers can somehow enable us to climb to the top of a multi-thousand foot, snow-capped peak?

Check out “Don’t Hate,” an ad where a bunch of know-it-all kids barrage ign’ant adults with shark-friendly statistics like “Did you know you’re more likely to be killed by a coconut falling out a tree?”

The French… Oh, la, la! They’ve always been a sexy type of people. Do I need to give you evidence? Look no further than their first lady, Carla Bruni. The woman is on fire. Fire I tell you.

So, I was a bit surprised to see that a new spot for Orangina from French agency, Fred & Farid, Christophe Lambert, and Psyop (they of Coke Factory fame) has come under fire. Well, perhaps the bursting spray from Orangina bottles with zerbas in bustiers riding on top might be a little too much. Just a little.

It seems that the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) received 147 complaints, after the commercial was first screened on August 1 on E4 during an episode of How to Look Good Naked. A spokesperson said they had not decided whether to investigate the advert, which is due to be shown post watershed throughout August.

[source]

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

George Orwell’s copious diaries are now being published every day in blog form, exactly 70 years after they were made.

<img alt=”robert6.jpg” src=”http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/original/robert6.jpg” width=”344″ height=”441″ /

Not to long ago, WPP owned 25% of a small agency in Zimbabwe called Imago Young & Rubicam. It turned out that the shop was involved in President Robert Mugabe’s re-election campaign creative.

For those of you who have been in a coma, His Excellency The Honourable Comrade General Secretary Executive President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, is a bit of an asshole who has spent decades dabbling in bloodshed, “-isms” and backward economic policies. Currently, he’s losing a much-needed power struggle for the country.

Dude is not a good person to be doing business with then, now or ever. Supposedly, the agency became aware of the association in June. Tribble reported on it over here. With all the bad press about Mugabe floating around, WPP told the major media outlets that they planned on getting rid of their interest.

And now, it’s done. WPP sold their stake in Imago for just $1 to the majority shareholder, Sharon Mugabe, who is also chief executive. No, no… she’s not Mugabe’s wife or anything. They just share the same last name. The agency will now remove all references to Y&R.

WPP added: “This could never happen with our knowledge or approval and we investigated the situation as a matter of urgency.”

Nice touch selling it for a dollar, no?

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

Bob Garfield, noted media writer (AdAge) and radio commentator (NPR), can nitpick with the best of ’em. I’d hate to be his tailor, or inker, or child, since the guy seems to have it out for pretty much everyone.

And though his opining is usually worth a read, we have to say that his latest piece on the new United work is…misguided.

Garfield sums up his thought on why the “Time to Fly” campaign (in his mind) doesn’t work.

“At certain moments, advertising &#151 no matter how cunningly crafted &#151 is incapable of sending its intended message. At certain moments, it is capable only of triggering associations with the larger story in the public mind. That’s one reason you haven’t seen a lot of bank commercials lately offering fast, convenient refinancing. It’s why John McCain will come nowhere near his Republican colleague Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens in the next three months. It’s why Barry Bonds‘ endorsement career has dried up.”

More on why his notions are wrong, after the jump.

continued…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

(TrendHunter.com) Bob Marley is working his reggae magic in Eastern Europe as he has recently become a new figure for tolerance in the war-struck country.

Recently, statues of western pop culture figures are emerging…

Three high school kids stand at the side of a track.

If you recall, Wayne Best went missing not to long ago. The ECD over at TAXI New York just sort of disappeared one day from the agency’s email chain and roster.

That was April and this is August. After four months of searching both internally and externally, the shop has selected Ron Smrczek, a creative director from the Toronto office. Ron joined TAXI in 2003, left briefly in 2005 to work at Zig, then returned in 2006 as associate creative director.

The last we heard of Best was that he was freelancing over at JWT.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

“Another box of Kleenex, one more forest gooooone!” That’s part of Greenpeace’s freaky new campaign song, inspired by the motion picture Wall*E.