9823: BBDO Not In A Good Mood.

Advertising Age reported on another example of Corporate Cultural Collusion involving Omnicom—except this time, it didn’t go the holding company’s way. The creative duties for the Arby’s account shifted from BBDO to CP+B without a review, likely fueled by a fresh CMO with previous ties to Burger King and the new AOR. Which leaves BBDO employees not in a good mood at all. But everyone else can rejoice in knowing they won’t have to listen to the annoying White dude sing, “It’s Good Mood Food!”

Arby’s Creative Shifts to CP&B Without a Review

New CMO Russ Klein Ditches BBDO for Shop He Worked With While at Burger King

By Maureen Morrison

Arby’s is handing its creative account to CP&B from BBDO without a review, Ad Age has learned.

The move comes just a month after the chain named former Burger King Global CMO Russ Klein CMO. During his tenure at Burger King, Mr. Klein shifted the creative account to MDC Partners-owned CP&B in 2004 and worked with the agency until his departure from the burger chain in 2009.

Omnicom Group’s BBDO won the Arby’s account in December 2010. Omnicom sibling Merkley & Partners had the Arby’s account before that. Arby’s media agency of record, Interpublic’s Initiative, will continue to handle media duties.

“BBDO’s work for Arby’s was exactly what the brand needed at that time,” said Mr. Klein, in a statement. “This transition is about where we are taking the brand and how we are going to get there. Our opportunity is to turn a great brand into a great business. We are building a brand that will be authentic, emotional and enduring, and I know that CP&B can get us there.”

Rob Reilly, partner and worldwide chief creative officer at CP&B, said in the statement: “What has always struck me about Russ is his huge passion and strategic acumen. We are thrilled to have the chance to partner with him and the team to restore the fervent love for the Arby’s brand.”

The sudden move is a gut punch for the Omnicom shop. Coincident with BBDO’s work on the Arby’s business, the fast feeder posted positive sales after a slump. After the chain appointed Mr. Klein, Arby’s Restaurant Group President Hala Moddelmog said in a statement that Arby’s had just completed its fifth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth.

In a separate statement, John Osborn, president-CEO of BBDO, New York, said: “There’s not much to say. The numbers speak for themselves. We’re proud of our contributions to the Arby’s business. We wish the brand continued growth.”

Arby’s is expected to launch a new campaign and logo, as well as a new menu, in the third quarter of the year around the Olympics, but given the account change, it’s believed that CP&B will now be responsible for the work. BBDO created the current tagline “It’s good-mood food.”

Arby’s, now a private company, was part of Wendy’s/Arby’s Group until private-equity firm Roark Capital took a majority stake in the chain in July. Arby’s spent $111.7 million on U.S. measured media in 2011, according to Kantar.

9822: Salma Hayek’s Got Milk.

Salma Hayek appears in the new “Got Milk?” advertisement depicted above. Really? That’s the best they could come up with for Hayek—despite all the milk references that might naturally flow from her? Lame, lazy bastards.

9821: Miracle Whip White.

Adweek presented the latest Miracle Whip commercial scheduled to air during the Academy Awards broadcast. The spot is awful for reasons that go beyond its clichéd, contrived writing and art direction. Specifically, its Whiteness makes the message irrelevant to contemporary America—and underscores the cultural cluelessness of the commercial’s creators.

9820: Altoids’ Curiously Racist Commercial.

This new Altoids commercial makes light of Dutch colonists offering Native Americans a box of mints in exchange for land. The colonist rescinds the offer, probably realizing it will be easier to simply seize the country by force.

9819: BHM 2012—USTA.

USTA.com serves up a slamming BHM message.

9818: Ad Age’s Segregated Celebration.

Advertising Age presented two interviews—“Jimmy Smith on Mentors, Racism and the Future of Advertising” and “Ikea’s Leontyne Green Talks About Diversity and Marketing to African-Americans”—apparently sharing the unabridged sections from the “African American Execs on Life in Adland” piece published earlier in the week. Despite allegedly being part of Ad Age’s Black History Month celebration, both interviews went straight to The Big Tent. Um, isn’t Black History actually American History? Shouldn’t these interviews have appeared in the main publication section versus the minority space?

9817: Blaxploitation History Month.

The New York Daily News presents ‘Blaxploitation’ Stars: Where are they now?

9816: Draftfcb Fails To Show Manliness.

Another entry in The New America series from Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau—Man Down—is shameless self-promotion for the advertising agency. Draftfcb Director of Strategic Planning Matthew Wilcox shows how Census findings led to male insights that inspired a Dockers concept. The research was likely also repackaged to sell the hideous Miller Lite “Man Up” work. Yo, Draftfcb, real admen don’t brag about shitty campaigns.

9815: BHM 2012—Heineken.

Heineken presents the annual Black History art contest—and so far, the Facebook page shows zero entrants.

9814: Judge Dreadful.

If you judge this lame campaign, it doesn’t deserve a Clio. Hell, it wouldn’t earn a local Addy.





From Ads of the World.

9813: Honey Bunches Of Oats Lady Is Back…?

Advertising Age reported Post is seeking to ignite brand awareness and sales with renewed marketing efforts for Great Grains and Honey Bunches of Oats. Great. Just in time for Black History Month, the Honey Bunches of Oats Lady may be back.

9812: BHM 2012—Madison Avenue Ads.

If White advertising agencies produced self-promotional messages to celebrate Black History Month, the ads would probably look like these parodies.

9811: Smokey Is Fuzzy.

Can’t recall if this was previously covered, but what the fuck does “Get Your Smokey On” mean?

9810: Museums Spotlight Civil Rights.

From The New York Times…

New Museums to Shine a Spotlight on Civil Rights Era

By Kim Severson

ATLANTA — Drive through any state in the Deep South and you will find a monument or a museum dedicated to civil rights.

A visitor can peer into the motel room in Memphis where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was staying when he was shot or stand near the lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., where four young men began a sit-in that helped end segregation.

Other institutions are less dramatic, like the Tubman African American Museum in Macon, Ga., where Jim Crow-era toilet fixtures are on display alongside folk art.

But now, a second generation of bigger, bolder museums is about to emerge.

Atlanta; Jackson, Miss.; and Charleston, S.C., all have projects in the works. Coupled with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, which breaks ground in Washington this week, they represent nearly $750 million worth of plans.

Collectively, they also signal an emerging era of scholarship and interest in the history of both civil rights and African-Americans that is to a younger generation what other major historical events were to their grandparents. “We’re at that stage where the civil rights movement is the new World War II,” said Doug Shipman, the chief executive officer for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, a $100 million project that is to break ground in Atlanta this summer and open in 2014.

“It’s a move to the next phase of telling this story,” he said.

The collection at the museum, which is to be set on two and half acres of prime downtown real estate donated by Coca-Cola, will include 10,000 documents and artifacts from Dr. King and a series of paintings based on the life of Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, by the artist Benny Andrews, who died in 2006.

Like many of the new museums, the Atlanta center aims higher than the first wave of monuments to the period. It will link the civil rights movement to global human rights, exploring how, for example, Dr. King’s speeches helped fuel the Arab Spring.

Although the momentum for the new museums is strong, the recession has shaved the size and shape of some projects, and raising money can be a challenge.

John Fleming, the director of International African American Museum planned for Charleston and a former president of the Association of African American Museums, points to the United States National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, Va. That project, led by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, was supposed to open on 38 acres in 2004. It recently went into bankruptcy, and people who donated money and artifacts are upset.

Although exactly what went wrong is still being debated, Mr. Fleming said that in part the project aimed too high and did not adjust as the economy softened. Mr. Fleming’s own project began as an $80 million, 70,000-square-foot museum. Now, it is smaller by $30 million and 20,000 square feet.

“Most black museums have difficulty raising funds,” Mr. Fleming said. “Being truthful, I don’t think people in the African-American community have stepped up to the plate in terms of making significant donations to these projects.”

Other directors disagree, saying a generation whose parents or grandparents lived through the 1950s and 1960s are now elected officials and on boards, where they have influence over where cultural dollars are spent.

“The folks who actually participated in the civil rights movement are getting to an age where legacy is important,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, director of the Smithsonian’s African-American museum.

The election of President Obama, Mr. Shipman said, “caps the civil rights era and opens up the next chapter. There is a distance that allows new questions to be asked.”

As with the Holocaust and other historical events that eventually moved from painful reality to memorials and then to museums and academic scholarship, the importance of the civil rights movement gets heightened as the last of the participants begin to die.

“In some ways, it’s very much like the old Civil War veterans passing from the scene. Suddenly, the Civil War became more important,” said Philip G. Freelon, the architect who has designed most of the major civil rights museums in the country, including the projects at the Smithsonian and in Atlanta and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, a long-stalled project that finally secured $20 million from the State Legislature last April after Gov. Haley Barbour spoke in its favor.

The package comes with an additional $18 million to build an adjacent state history museum.

“These museums throughout the South are really a sea change,” said William Ferris, a University of North Carolina folklorist who edited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. “In Mississippi, to see a major civil rights museum is heartening in every sense.”

For some, however, there is concern that the movement to isolate the era in bigger and better museums helps people avoid meaningful conversations about racism that still expresses itself in everything from interactions at a grocery store to the presidential election.

“All of these efforts are important, but we still have not addressed the issue of race in America, and until we do, that hydra is going to keep raising its ugly head,” said Ayisha Cisse-Jeffries, vice president for global affairs and international policy at the African American Islamic Institute.

And then there is the question of attendance. With so many museums with similar themes, are there enough interested visitors?

Directors say the idea is to create a network of institutions that enhance one another rather than detract. And each place intends to have a specific focus. In Charleston, where fund-raising is beginning for a museum dedicated to slavery, visitors will be able to walk the ground where 40 percent of the Africans who would be sold as slaves arrived. The museum in Washington will be the most prominent. An estimated four million visitors are expected each year.

Its vast collection will be more archival, and will include the original “Soul Train” sign, the dress that Rosa Parks wore the day she refused to give up her seat on the bus and the gospel hymn book that belonged to Harriet Tubman.

As with many museums and collections dedicated to African-American history — there are more than 200 — the goal is to use black history as a lens on America.

“It is a new day, and the new day means this isn’t a time to remedy prior omissions,” Mr. Bunch said. “It really is a time to say this is how to understand who we are as Americans.”

9809: BHM 2012—Coca-Cola.

The Coca-Cola Pay It Forward promotion offers a chance to win a 5-day Apprenticeship Experience with Celebrity History Makers. They couldn’t toss in an internship with Coke’s ad agency?

9808: Blacks In Adland.

From Advertising Age…

African-American Execs on Life in Adland

Agency and Marketing Leaders Talk About Inspirations, Challenges and, Yes, Diversity

By Ad Age Staff

It’s hardly a secret that adland in the U.S. doesn’t even come close to being representative of the population to which it is tasked with selling things. While things aren’t quite as bad as they were during the “Mad Men” days, it’s a fact that the racial makeup of most general-market agencies hasn’t changed much since the 1970s.

So rather than mark Black History month with yet another round of numbers that haven’t changed or with well-meaning efforts by holding companies and trade organizations that will have critics rolling their eyes, we figured we would simply talk to some African-Americans prominent in the industry.

Who are they? Whether on the marketer or the agency side, they’re leaders focused first and foremost on getting the job done: seeking creative ways to sell things to consumers.

We’ve compiled and trimmed answers here, but stay tuned to AdAge.com as we post the longer individual interviews over the next few days.

Ad Age: How/why did you get into the business?

Jimmy Smith, chairman-CEO-CCO, Amusement Park Entertainment: I said it before and I’ll say it again: “Bewitched!” Darrin Stephens and his wife, Samantha, introduced me to the ad game. If it weren’t for Endora, Darrin would’ve been living the life! And Larry Tate taught me to beware of account people. (Just kidding!)

Leontyne Green, U.S. marketing manager, Ikea North America: As a restaurant general manager, I became curious about the links between consumer behavior and purchase intent, and my ability to drive my business. I subsequently received my MBA from Clark Atlanta University as a way to transition into marketing. I started my marketing career at Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

Rob Jackson, U.S. director-marketing, McDonald’s: As a novice student, it was simply exciting. The ability to influence and understand consumer behavior was incredible. And to see it applied in a strategic format in the development of communications, plans and programs was fascinating.

Ad Age: Any advertising or marketing role models?

Kheri Holland Tillman, VP-trade marketing and sales strategy, Heineken USA: One person who stands out is Ann Fudge, who after being at Kraft Foods … went on to be president at Y&R . She has been a mentor to me over the past years. She and I worked together at Kraft . To be able to see an African-American female excel in business and in advertising was something that you don’t see that often—you don’t see it enough.

Ms. Green: During my time at CAU, I had the opportunity to meet and be exposed to Ann Fudge and Kenneth Chenault. Those discussions were great opportunities to listen and learn from other African-American leaders in corporate America.

Keith Cartwright, creative chairman of soon-to-be-named agency: Well, aside from Alma and Arthur Cartwright, I’d have to say Dan [Wieden]. You cannot look at that company, over the past 30 years, on so many levels, and not admire what they’ve created. Now, Dan’s not black. Although he told me once he wanted to be.

Mr. Smith: Pop owned a few different businesses. He had an entrepreneurial spirit. He even owned an Arby’s. So I learned a lot from him. I gotta give Alma Hopkins and Lewis Williams some dap. They both worked at Burrell, my first gig. At FCB in Chicago, Al Hawkins took it from there, along with Gwen Dawkins. … Jo Muse—the godfather of how I approach advertising today—gave me my big break when he hired me to work on Nike at Muse Cordero Chen. Then there was the “W&K and the rest is history” era. Dan W. hooked a brotha up. [Mr. Smith’s complete list will be posted online.]

Jayanta Jenkins, global creative director-Gatorade, TBWA /Chiat/Day, Los Angeles: My first role model was Jimmy Smith, who took me under his wing as a mentor shortly after I started at the Portfolio Center back in 1994 after graduating [from Virginia Commonwealth University]. … Once I got started (at The Martin Agency), Pam El [VP-marketing at State Farm] was someone who really helped when I first got in the business.

Ad Age: What are your thoughts on marketing segmentation?

Kimberly Paige, assistant VP/African-American marketing group, Coca-Cola North America: Market segmentation is important because you have to ensure your brands are connecting with the right people at the right time with the right message and offering. … This doesn’t necessarily imply that ethnicity is the only way to segment consumers. Like most characteristics, ethnicity is an important identifier, but the degree of its importance can be very situational or contextual. And sometimes people see themselves as more than one segment. Our approach is not an either/or but an “and” strategy.

Ms. Green: When the insights are used appropriately, in a manner that supports the values, beliefs or culture of their consumer vs. perpetuating broad generalizations, marketers can begin to build trust for their brands.

Ms. Tillman: [It’s] necessary, but it’s not as simple as segmentation by African-American, Hispanic and white. It needs to be the psychographics along with the demographics. … So you have to make sure that you’re breaking it down into more than just an ethnic group.

Mr. Jackson: Segmented marketing is critical. It’s an established discipline. Whether it’s based on ethnicity, age or sex, segmentation is a way to get to those high-opportunity consumers in a very efficient way.

Ad Age: What do you think about the diversity issue in adland?

Mr. Cartwright: The conversation has changed, and people are much more aware than five years ago. That said, the numbers across-the-board are still anemic … and don’t give a fair representation of people we’re marketing to.

Ms. Green: There is a huge opportunity to increase diversity among the more senior roles, on both the creative and account sides. There has been an increase in diversity among junior roles [in agencies] on the account side, but I [see more] opportunity for increased diversity on the creative side. And I think there is a need for African-American-focused agencies.

Mr. Smith: I’m not 100% sure, because I didn’t do a survey back in the day, but I could have sworn there were more black folks in the biz when I began my career. … If the African-American shops are smart (and they are) they’ll seize the moment, understand the opportunity, make like Don Cornelius and provide clients with the hippest trips in American advertising. Most general-market agencies can’t fake the funk, and African-American agencies should stop running away from the funk.

Mr. Jenkins: It has changed and continues to change for the better on a daily basis. … [But] I think until there is even more diversity in general-market agencies, there will continue to be a need for African-American, Hispanic and Asian shops.

Ms. Paige: Diversity is an opportunity in the ad agency space. Given the shift in the consumer landscape, and the cultural exchange and fluidity that is happening among all people, especially youth and millennials, it is incumbent that agencies continuously evolve to ensure they have in-depth knowledge and a grasp of all consumers.

Ad Age: What are your thoughts on African-Americans and entrepreneurialism in advertising and marketing?

Mr. Cartwright: Entrepreneurialism is a way of thinking. It’s an approach to life. There’s so much going on right now in media and tech, I think it’s a great time for anyone to start a company, regardless of race.

Mr. Jenkins: Prince left Warner Bros. a decade ago because he didn’t like the way record execs were taking a lion’s share of profit from what he created. … I think that’s what you’re seeing in our industry. People who want to change the business model and blaze new territory for the way our ideas are developed.

Mr. Smith: Starting my own company was an easy decision. It had nothing to do with being black and everything to do with wanting to take brands to the moon, Mars and the stars via advertising that didn’t look or smell like advertising. I just simply wanted to make like Bill Bernbach, Georg Olden, Lee Clow, Dan Wieden, John Jay, Jo Muse and Jon Kamen and change the game. … As for other blacks starting their own businesses, I predict in seven years we won’t be having this conversation—because many brands will be out of business if we’re still having this conversation in seven years. And the CMOs of most brands are intelligent. They know what time it is. They see the handwriting on the wall. They know what color the money is. It’s black and yellow, brown AND white.

9807: BHM 2012—American Family Insurance.

Not sure if this is a BHM ad, but it certainly displays all the patronizing, contrived corniness to qualify.

9806: More Draftfcbullshit.

Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau are still churning out questionable content for The New America series. The latest press release publishing—A Racial Melting Pot?—was authored by Draftfcb Strategic Planning Director Luis Salles. The piece opens with, “For over 200 years, Americans have proudly referred to our nation as a ‘melting pot’—the intimation being that America is a shining example of the prosperity that can result from divergent cultures coming together to form a homogeneous and (hopefully) more harmonious common culture.” The statement displays a certain sense of revisionist history. According to Wikipedia, while the melting metaphor has been around since the 1780s, it didn’t become popular in America until the 1908 play titled, “The Melting Pot.” Native Americans, Blacks and other non-White citizens have not “proudly” used the term for over 200 years. Indeed, many minorities have rejected the phrase, favoring metaphors like “mosaic” and “salad bowl” to identify the nation. Don’t know where the cross-cultural advocates at Draftfcb might stand on the matter. Regardless, it boggles the mind that a concept such as “melting pot” would be addressed by an agency from Madison Avenue, where non-Whites have been systematically rejected for over 70 years. And the outrageous factor is compounded when considering the agency, Draftfcb, remains among the most culturally clueless in the industry. It’s a wonder the piece didn’t cite Schoolhouse Rock as its primary reference source.

9805: ESPN Displays Linsensitivity.

Add ESPN to the list of idiots engaging in Linsensitivity. The iconic sports network posted a racist headline on its mobile website that prompted the following official statement on its regular website:

Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.

9804: Taco Bell’s Lazy Mexican Food.

Taco Bell is launching another lazy menu item—Doritos Locos Tacos. Like the Beefy Crunch Burrito featuring Fritos corn chips, the latest innovation essentially combines junk food products under the PepsiCo banner. Still waiting for the Cheetos Chalupas or SunChips Chimichangas. Hell, they ought to just pump all the PepsiCo shit through a blender and serve it as a Smoothie Supreme.

9803: Slumming With Freida Pinto.