Hasta La Creative!

Little lads obsessed with berries and cream. Macho moms who love Combos. Skittles leaks. Gerry Graf can dish out the funny. But can he take it? Sometimes not, judging by reports from the executive creative director’s going-away party from TBWA\Chiat\Day last week. At the event, held at Le Colonial on East 57th Street, TBWA worldwide CEO Tom Carroll presented Graf, who’s heading to Saatchi & Saatchi, with a giant check for a “gazillion” dollars, mock “signed” by Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts. On the memo line were the words, “For your soul.” Graf’s reaction? “He wasn’t all that happy,” says a source. Though it was meant as a goof, Graf evidently took it as kind of a cheap shot. Leaving aside the question of whether it’s even possible to impugn the integrity of someone who works in advertising, we’ll assume Graf simply wanted to feel the lovemarks at his send-off, rather than suffer jokes at his expense. Whatever the case, for his new employer’s sake, hopefully he hasn’t lost his sense of humor permanently.

—Posted by Tim Nudd