Hasta La Creative!

Our tipsters were correct again: Y&R just named John Fraser, an agency vet most recently with mcgarrybowen, as president of its Chicago office.

Tomorrow, Fraser officially replaces Kary McIlwain, who will assume the non-executive chairman role effective immediately. This move follows last week’s appointment of Alex Hughes to the global CMO position.

A longtime Chicago native who served media supervisor at Leo Burnett and SVP/group management director at FCB Global before launching the Windy City’s Element79 and Brand Team Partners, Fraser joined mcgarrybowen almost exactly three years ago, serving as COO and group managing director and handling multiple unnamed accounts.

In the release, Global CEO David Sable calls Fraser “an inspiring leader with deep knowledge of the Chicago market” who is “perfectly suited to our culture and client base.” He also praises McIlwain, who he names “a great champion of her people and a steadfast advocate for her clients and their brands.”

McIlwain, who will remain with the agency in the non-executive role in order to “assure a smooth transition,” will soon end her 26-year stint with Y&R. She joined the agency in the early 90’s on the new business side before handling strategy for Miller/Miller Lite and ascending to the president position in 1999.

Last week, a source told us that the pending change stemmed from “a lack of new business development” — and Fraser will begin working to remedy that issue this week.

The agency world, or one agency at least, is joining the protest against Dolce & Gabbana after its founders said children born by IVF were “synthetic” and that they oppose adoption by gay parents.

DigitasLBi, part of Publicis Groupe, said Tuesday that it would symbolically remove the D and the G from its name for a week. Here’s the memo from Tony Weisman, North American CEO, and Ronald Ng, North American Chief Creative Officer:

Folks,

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As Samsung revamps, it’s pilfering talent from major consumer products companies. The Korean conglomerate is in talks with Marc Mathieu, the number two marketer at Unilever, to become its top creative officer, according to executives familiar with the decision.

Mr. Mathieu would replace Todd Pendleton, the CMO of Samsung’s U.S. mobile division. In early March, Mr. Pendleton told employees he would be exiting by April. He is temporarily staying on as a consultant with Samsung, according to executives familiar with the matter.

Mr. Mathieu did not respond to email requests for comment. A Unilever spokeswoman said the company hadn’t been informed of any move involving Mr. Mathieu. Representatives from Samsung did not return requests for comment.

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The battle between Nike and Under Armour could soon be hitting the hardwood in a major way. The two marketers are expected to vie for the rights to become the NBA’s official jersey supplier, replacing Adidas, which said Monday that it won’t renew its pact after it ends in 2017.

ESPN and The Wall Street Journal reported the word from Adidas on Monday.

The sponsorship seems like a natural fit for Under Armour, which has made recent moves to bolster its basketball presence. But Nike is unlikely to stand by and cede ground to its smaller, but fast-growing, competitor. Last fall, Under Armour seemed poised to bring Kevin Durant into its stable of endorsers, only to see him stick with Nike at the last second.

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If there’s one thing North America needs to make it through a painful mid-life crisis, it’s a new Italian sports car.

Alfa Romeo — the classic Milanese racing brand owned by the FIAT Chrysler Group — recently announced plans to “re-colonize America” via its new 4C Spider model. For the record, the soft launch came in 2014 via the slightly less sexy hardtop 4C coupe; the company sold “a total of 91 of them” during the holiday season.

Here’s the Spider:

The #4CSpider; open-air driving has never felt this good. pic.twitter.com/z1ygorP2xv

— Alfa Romeo USA (@AlfaRomeoUSA) March 16, 2015

In January, the company announced plans to sell “400 or so of the hand-built, lightweight, midengine coupes with removable tops” across North America later this year. The move marks a refresh for “a brand that hasn’t been available in the United States since before the O.J. Simpson murder trial” (nice work there, Automotive News).

…which brings us to our point. The company will need agency assistance in promoting these new, super-exclusive models, and today we learned that FIAT has chosen two agencies for the assignment: Doner and The Richards Group.

From the official statement:

“…both Doner and The Richards Group have been engaged by Alfa Romeo’s marketing team for existing creative assets including print (dealer materials, etc.) and videos on the brand’s social channels.

For the work that is currently being tasked the brand…CMO Olivier Francois…has utilized [Doner and Richards] at this time.”

A contact close to the matter told us that as many as six agencies pitched the work, but FIAT clarifies that the company did not release any formal RPF. It turned, instead, to its existing roster.

This decision is very much in keeping with the client’s creative strategy outlined in a recent post on the Jeep account, which currently lacks an AOR after ending its relationship with Global Hue:

“Olivier Francois and his team are currently working in partnership with the company’s dedicated roster of agencies on behalf of all brand advertising and marketing initiatives.”

Like Chobani, FIAT seems to view the AOR role (and general agency assignments) with a bit more flexibility than clients past. As noted in the previous story, Richards created this year’s Super Bowl ads for both Jeep and FIAT while Doner made 2014’s “Mirage” campaign featuring Diddy. (Wieden + Kennedy remains AOR for Chrysler proper, and its most recent work for the client involved Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite toy, Oculus Rift.)

Alfa Romeo is almost certainly not big enough to demand nationwide TV campaigns, but we expect to see related work from both Doner and Richards in the months to come.

In the meantime, the car also looks pretty good from behind:

Young-Sung Kim est un artiste basé à Goyang, en Corée du Sud. Il réalise des peintures hyperréalistes de grenouilles, poissons et insectes entourés de bouteilles de verre, cuillères en métal et ou encore de tissu de soie. Les peintures explorent la façon dont ces organismes (sur)vivent dans des situations incommodes.

To address what the misconception that owning a gun makes you and your loved ones safer, non-profit group States United to Prevent Gun Violence recently decided to get fairly blunt with prospective first-time buyers in startling yet clever fashion.

The project was directed by Grey New York and production company Rival School Pictures, which rented the space for two days.

The parties then built a “gun store” in the heart of Manhattan’s Lower East Side that was specifically meant to lure those interested in owning their first piece. With hidden cameras rolling, a host of passersby strolled in to be greeted by a stack of arms and a salesman willing to explain the guns themselves. The catch, though, is that each weapon our salesman introduces potential customers to comes with its own horrific history. According to the video above, perspectives can change rather quickly when confronted with even remote tales of violence.

In a statement, Julia Wyman, executive director of States United To Prevent Gun Violence, writes:

“Our goal is to educate those looking to purchase a firearm and ensure they are aware of the potential risks [and to promote responsible gun ownership]. Often gun purchasers wrongly believe guns will keep them safe when in fact a gun in the home greatly increases the risk of homicide and suicide. This sets the record straight so consumers can make an informed choice to buy a firearm or not.”

For more info, the campaign’s homepage, includes an interactive tool featuring the historic crimes and/or accidents involving each of nine “best seller” models.

This project marks Grey’s second gun-related PSA effort in as many weeks following the Snoop Dogg “Unload Your 401K” work (which was created with the assistance of unnamed gun control groups).

AGENCY – GREY NY

Tor Myhren
Worldwide Chief Creative Officer

Per Pedersen
Deputy Worldwide Chief Creative Officer

Andreas Dahlqvist
Chief Creative Officer

Stephen Krauss
Executive Creative Director

Ari Halper
Executive Creative Director

Marco Pupo
Creative Director

Joao Coutinho
Creative Director

Bennett McCarroll
EVP Director Broadcast Production

Floyd Russ
Producer

Elizabeth Gilchrist
VP Account Director

Katie Stirn
Account Supervisor

Emma Tonetti
Project Manager

Christopher Izzo
Digital Production

Jayne Horowitz
VP Art Producer

PRODUCTION COMPANY – RIVAL SCHOOL PICTURES

Andrew Lane
Director

James Blom
Executive Producer/Partner

Alihan Karagul
Executive Producer/Partner

EDITORIAL – VISION

Dominic Martimucci
Editor

POST-PRODUCTION – THE MILL

Up, up and away?

FCB Paris plans to send one of its creatives into space. The agency will use almost 37,000 balloons to hoist intrepid advernaut Baptiste Szuwarski toward heaven. The 25-year-old copywriter is the lightest member of the creative staff at 114 pounds, probably 113 if he shaves—and his weight, we’re told, makes him the perfect choice for this publicity stunt.

Since March 10, for each like on its Facebook page, the agency has inflated a balloon at its offices on the Champs-Elysées to support the mission, calculating somehow that it will take exactly 36,895 to get the job done. (The page has 2,200 likes overall, so there’s a stratospheric way to go.) FCB says the precise launch date is … sigh … up in the air. #GoodLuckBaptiste is the hashtag.

Balloons? Sounds like hot air to me. And the fact that the agency emailed a PDF

press release makes me doubt its technical prowess. Besides, if we’re going to banish an ad exec from the planet, I think everyone agrees Donny Deutsch should be the one to go. (Kidding, of course. He’s got a new TV show, and who isn’t psyched about that?)

Bon chance, Baptiste! Though you will be risking your very existence on this fateful voyage, it still beats filling out timesheets and meeting with clients.

“Dying is not an option,” Szuwarski tells AdFreak. “At least, for me it isn’t!”

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is again using his company as a platform for social issues, this time trying to encourage conversations on race by having baristas write the words “race together” on its cups.

The chain also took out a full-page ad in Sunday’s New York Times with the phrase “Shall We Overcome?” On March 20, a supplement called “Race Together,” written by Starbucks with USA Today, will run in print editions of USA Today and appear in Starbucks stores.

According to Fortune:

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