Campaign spotlighted Publicis Worldwide CEO Arthur Sadoun, one of the White men pegged as a possible heir apparent—although clearly not hair apparent—to Publicis Groupe Chairman-CEO Maurice Lévy. The story repeatedly states that the 43-year-old Sadoun is essentially a younger clone of the nearly 73-year-old Lévy. Is that a good thing? Of course, the narcissistic Lévy must be giddy over the prospect of replacing himself with a fresher prototype… er, protégé. But isn’t the succession scenario similar to Kim Jong-un following Kim Jong-il? It’s such a clear confirmation of the good ol’ boys network ruling the industry—which is especially prevalent in France, when one considers the nepotistic nonsense at Havas. When the proposed Publicis-Omnicom merger fizzled, Omnicom Group CEO John Wren insisted the breakup resulted from corporate cultural differences as opposed to national cultural differences. Hey, if Wren could speak with a French accent, the deal would have cleanly consummated over croissants.
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