17513: On Publicis Groupe Parodying And/Or Promoting Pitch Practices.

Advertising Age published paradoxical propaganda from Publicis Groupe, allowing the White holding company to pitch itself by calling out how White holding companies, White advertising agencies, and White media firms pitch themselves to win pitches.

 

Publicis Groupe took the hypocritical hype a step further via an AI-generated video, overtly selling its suspect AI capabilities.

 

Not mentioned in the faux criticism of pitch practices:

 

1. The exclusivity—ie, White supremacy—holding companies exploit for dominating access to global accounts.

 

2. Prime Redlining maneuvers.

 

Is the Publicis Groupe exposition a harsh critique or a helpful instructional guide?

 

Publicis calls out AI hype and other bad pitch practices as the industry heads to Cannes

 

By Brian Bonilla

 

Publicis Groupe, one of advertising’s most vocal proponents of AI-driven transformation, is heading into the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with a different message this year: stop overpromising.

 

Its new satirical AI-generated video pokes fun at exaggerated artificial intelligence claims, free creative work and other questionable pitch practices, while also announcing that Publicis will host what Arthur Sadoun, its chairman and CEO, described as the holding company’s largest-ever gathering of clients and investors at the festival.

 

Publicis has spent years positioning itself at the forefront of the ad industry’s AI conversation through investments in data and AI-powered platforms, often using Cannes as a stage to promote new technology initiatives. This year, however, the industry’s third-largest player is using the festival to warn against what it sees as growing issues with how AI is being promoted as an efficiency play rather than one that drives business impact, causing a “race to the bottom,” Sadoun said.

 

“We like to use Cannes as a platform for industry transformation,” Sadoun said. “This year, we want to call out what we think is a very important topic, which is the current compound effect of overpromising on AI, and unsustainable commercial practices in particular in pitches.” He added that the trend is “currently leading to massive job cuts in our industry” as agencies claim “we can do more with AI and, by the way, we can be cheaper.”

 

The video, created by Le Truc, features reenactments of what Publicis executives say are real pitch stories they have heard over the past few years. Situations include agency executives promising clients they can do creative work for free, promising clients a $5 million bonus if they use an agency’s AI platform, cutting staff significantly, or even an instance where a client was promised a chance to go shopping with their favorite fashion designer in Milan if the agency won the client’s business.

 

While stories like this have existed for a long time in the industry, Sadoun said the promise of AI solutions to clients has increased these bad practices. “It is a big problem and, as importantly, this is not what clients want,” Sadoun added. “That’s the point we want to make. Clients are not expecting us … to put fewer people on their accounts. They are expecting us to use our talent and AI to deliver real business results.”

 

The film was designed to make a serious point through humor, said Carla Serrano, chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe.

 

“We’re making a statement about how we’ve all gone too far and should, at this moment, really temper ourselves a little bit—especially in the pitch and contractual rooms,” she said. The current environment is one in which agencies are engaged in “AI pitch-maxing,” she added, arguing that “it’s time to get off the hype cycle.”

 

Publicis itself has long faced accusations from people in the industry that it wins business through aggressive commercial terms and by offering creative work for free to win media pitches. Asked directly about such criticism, Sadoun rejected the notion that the company’s growth has come at the expense of its business model.

 

“The industry has been saying that we are giving things for free since we became No. 1 in new business in 2017,” Sadoun said. “Since then, we have doubled our EBITDA, increased our revenue by 65%, hired 40,000 people.” He added: “Are we aggressive in what we do in commercial affairs? Of course we are—and everyone else is. But we are trying, as best as we can, to always come up with offers that, first of all, really deliver for clients.”

 

Sadoun pointed to Publicis’ creative business as evidence that the company is not giving away work to win accounts.

 

“We are the only ones growing in creativity, publicly. We are growing 5% when the entire industry is declining,” he said. “To anyone who says that we give creative for free, our answer is simple: we are growing 5% when the rest of the market is declining.”

 

Publicis has even changed its pitch strategy in the past 18 months, Sadoun said, with a focus on convincing clients to do a project and test out AI tools rather than launching formal reviews.

 

“It would be better if it were all about, ‘Let’s solve a business problem right now. Give us six weeks to do it and prove to you how we can help you drive the growth and success that you’re looking for,’” Serrano said.

 

At Cannes, Publicis is set to showcase what its executives said are tangible business outcomes from AI-enabled transformation work. The company plans to hold more than 60 closed-door client sessions across five industry verticals. Last Year, Publicis hosted over 40 sessions.

 

This will include a large session featuring conversations about business transformation with Gülen Bengi, global chief marketing officer of Mars, and Shakir Moin, president of marketing for North America at The Coca-Cola Company, which were two of the biggest accounts Publicis won last year. It will bring together 350 clients and 70 investors under Chatham House rules.

 

“We want to show not only the ups but also the downs, because clients are ready to hear about the downs and, of course, the outcomes that we have delivered through our relationship,” Sadoun said.

 

The gathering marks the first time Publicis has assembled a client-and-investor audience of that scale at Cannes, he said.

 

“We are doing it in a way where we want this to be a real conversation and actually exactly the opposite of prospecting,” Sadoun said. “We have nothing to sell. Actually, we’re going to try to undersell. We’re going to try to touch on the difficulties of what needs to be put in place to achieve the kind of business results that our clients are looking for.”

17512: On Juneteenth In Adland 2026.

In Adland 2026, Juneteenth has been impacted by restructurings, redundancies, and RIFs—like White holding companies and White advertising agencies throughout the global industry.

 

The anti-DEIBA+ vibe in Adland means Juneteenth further loses its performative priority, plummeting far below organizational rejiggering, shareholder appeasing, and AI capabilities overhyping.

 

Juneteenth is seemingly deemed redundant to celebratory events such as Black History Month and MLK Day—both of which are also ignored and/or viewed with indifference.

 

In recent years, White holding companies and White advertising agencies have quietly diminished ERGs, downsized DEIBA+ teams, and dismissed Chief Diversity Officers. So, delegating diversity duties for Juneteenth is disregarded.

 

Will Adland ever experience freedom from systemic racism?

17511: How To Be Remembered At Cannes—The True Version.

 

Advertising Age published fluff content titled, “How to be the person people remember at Cannes, according to 10 festival veterans”—featuring self-absorbed bullshit from forgettable nobodies.

 

Not mentioned among the contrived tips:

 

• Sexually assault someone.

 

• Admit your Lion-winning entry is scam.

 

• Woo potential clients with lavish gifts, expensive booze, and brazen sex acts.

 

• If you’re a person of color seeking to be remembered at Cannes, you must perform as an A-list entertainer.

 

How to be the person people remember at Cannes, according to 10 festival veterans

 

By Ad Age Staff

 

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a rush of introductions, pitches and personalities—it can be extremely difficult to make a lasting impression. To make the most of your time among the industry’s top players, brushing up on your opener, among other steps, can make a big difference.

 

Ad Age asked 10 Cannes veterans about successful tactics for rising above the noise. See their tips and the reasoning behind them below.

 

Finesse up your opener

 

Amy Worley, global chief connections officer, VML

 

Cannes is undeniably packed with more brands, tech giants and business leaders than ever, but it’s still the Festival of Creativity. So instead of defaulting to “What do you do?” try asking, “What have you seen that’s inspired you this week?” I’ve found it gets past the small talk and into the good stuff much faster. And who doesn’t love to talk about what they love?

 

Rita Ferro, president, global advertising, Disney

 

One of the most memorable first impressions I’ve seen at Cannes came from someone who simply had the confidence to stop, introduce themselves, and ask a thoughtful question. You meet an extraordinary number of people in a single week, and the ones who stand out aren’t the loudest—they’re the ones who are genuinely curious, prepared, and intentional about creating a real moment of connection.

 

I always appreciate when first-timers, students or young professionals take that initiative. It signals hunger, humility, and an understanding that Cannes is ultimately about people.

 

Lead with your point of view over your title

 

Luis Miguel Messianu, founder, president and chief creative officer, MEL

 

The people who make the strongest impression at Cannes are rarely the ones trying the hardest to impress. The memorable ones are curious, generous and present.

 

I remember people who didn’t begin with a pitch, a title or a credential. They began with a point of view. They had seen something, felt something, questioned something. They asked smart questions about the work, about culture, about where the industry was going. That stands out because Cannes can be noisy, and real curiosity cuts through the noise.

 

The best first impression is not “look who I am.” It is “let’s have a conversation worth remembering.”

 

Leandro Barreto, global chief marketing officer for Unilever and Beauty and Wellbeing

 

The people who make the strongest impression are the ones who are precise about what they stand for but also approach Cannes with a real sense of curiosity. They don’t try to cover everything; they engage thoughtfully and land a perspective clearly. In a week that’s full of ideas, that kind of clarity cuts through.

 

I’ve always found it stands out when someone grounds the conversation in real work and real examples and then builds from there. But equally, the people you remember are the ones who are open to going beyond their usual circle—connecting with different brands, perspectives and parts of the ecosystem you wouldn’t normally engage with day to day.

 

Do the thing you said you’d do

 

Joe Paluska, chief marketing officer, Commonwealth Fusion Systems

 

The most memorable first impression I’ve ever seen at Cannes came from Anderson .Paak. After speaking at Amazon Port about authenticity, culture and co-creation, he came right up to the front of the stage. I mentioned that my son was studying hip-hop and was about to turn 21, and Anderson immediately shot him a personal happy birthday video. That moment said everything.

 

Cannes is full of people talking about authenticity, but Anderson practiced it in real time. He didn’t need to do it. There was no “brand benefit.” He just made a human gesture that my son will never forget. At Cannes, the people who stand out are not always the loudest or most polished. They are the ones who make a huge global stage feel personal. Anderson turned a celebrity encounter into a father-son memory, and that is the kind of impression no business card can compete with.

 

Crystal Foote, founder and head of partnerships, Digital Culture Group

 

One of the most memorable first impressions I experienced at Cannes came from the wife of a marketer attending the festival. She was curious about what I did and immediately started thinking about who I should meet. After learning more about Digital Culture Group and the work we were doing, she connected me directly to her husband. What stood out was how naturally she made introductions and created connections in the moment. Cannes moves fast, and some of the best opportunities come from people who are proactive, engaged and genuinely interested in helping others expand their network.

 

Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, president, Pereira O’Dell

 

After speaking on the Cannes Creator stage last year, I had several people approach me who mentioned that something I mentioned in my speaker bio—my specific career path, my Palestinian roots—spoke to them and made them want to stop by and say hi. It was incredibly thoughtful and purposeful, which felt deeply refreshing amidst a sea of sales pitches and superficial hellos.

 

Talk to people standing in line with you

 

Alejandra Haro, regional leader, Circulo Creativo USA

 

Absolutely. I once met a person who is now a speaker at the festival, and it happened in the most unplanned, unhurried way. We simply couldn’t get into the same venue, ended up waiting together, and that was it. To me, that’s what a truly memorable first impression looks like: not a polished elevator pitch, but a real human moment. The kind that makes you think I’d love to work with this person someday. So don’t be afraid to talk to strangers; everyone is there to connect.

 

Kimberly Wilson, board advisor, Fullscale Holdings

 

The people who stand out most at Cannes are usually quietly moving through the experience. I’ve always been drawn to individuals who lead with authenticity versus transaction.

 

I remember meeting the chief revenue officer of a pretty big agency who skipped a networking event entirely and instead opted to join me for an impromptu lunch to discuss how culture, creativity and consumer behavior were shifting in real time. It immediately changed the energy of the interaction because it felt genuine and thoughtful rather than transactional.

 

People remember how you made them feel far more than your title or company affiliation.

 

Make time for the work—it leaves an impression too

 

Jorge Plasencia, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Republica Havas

 

I do not have one specific “first impression” moment with a person that comes to mind. For me, the most memorable first impressions at Cannes have often come from the work itself.

 

Over the years, there have been so many campaigns that have impacted me and stayed with me. One example is the Lacoste work from my colleagues at Havas’ BETC, which used the brand’s iconic crocodile to draw attention to endangered species. It was simple, powerful and deeply memorable.

 

Those are the moments I never forget. Cannes is full of people, meetings, conversations and events, but the work is what stays with you. The best ideas make a first impression that lasts.

17510: Yum! Brands Says Yuck! To Pizza Hut.

 

Advertising Age reported Yum! Brands is slicing Pizza Hut from the corporate portfolio.

 

The sale scenario posed an opportunity for WPP, which could’ve acquired the restaurant chain and created a new unit—WPPizza—delivering pies to clients and White advertising agencies in the network.

 

Such an enterprise also could’ve offered employment possibilities for the thousands laid off by the single White operating company.

Pizza Hut is being sold for $2.7 billion

 

Yum Brands Inc. is selling its struggling Pizza Hut division for $2.7 billion, allowing the restaurant operator to focus on its better-performing KFC and Taco Bell chains.

 

Private equity firm LongRange Capital will acquire Pizza Hut excluding China for $1.5 billion, Yum stated Tuesday. Yum China Holdings Inc. will buy the rest of the business for $1.2 billion. The transactions are expected to close in the third quarter.

 

Yum’s shares rose as much as 3.6%. The stock had gained 2.2% this year through Monday’s close, trailing the S&P 500’s 10% advance.

 

Investors had been expecting Yum to offload Pizza Hut, which it has owned since the restaurant company spun off from PepsiCo Inc. in 1997. The sale should help Yum sharpen its focus, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Michael Halen said.

 

“This enables them to divert their resources, their people, their energy and their capital toward one very high-growth chain and one very solid-growth chain,” he said.

 

Bloomberg reported in May that LongRange had entered exclusive talks with Yum to buy Pizza Hut. The company said last year that it was conducting a strategic review after years of trying to revive stagnant sales at the chain known for its pan pizzas with thick, buttery crust.

 

Domino’s pressure

 

Domino’s has trumped Pizza Hut in areas including menu innovation, marketing, ordering technology and delivery infrastructure, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData. Pizza Hut also is a less popular option for casual diners who are eating in, as they look for larger menus and more contemporary environments, he said.

 

Pizza Hut’s U.S. business has underperformed peers in recent years, according to data from restaurant research firm Technomic Inc. The category got a lift as Americans ordered in during the pandemic, but sales have petered out since. Chains have launched a bevy of deals to boost traffic. Pizza Hut has struggled to compete.

 

“This is as promotional an environment as I’ve seen,” Halen said. At Pizza Hut, “the quality of the product wasn’t good, and the real estate here in the U.S. was a problem. You have these big stores and nobody is coming to your stores to sit down and eat.”

 

Pizza Hut’s share of Yum’s revenue has declined every year since 2019, shrinking to about 12% in 2025 from more than 18% six years earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. During that period, Pizza Hut’s revenue has hovered around $1 billion, while Yum’s revenue grew by about 47% to $8.2 billion last year.

 

The deal will leave Yum with KFC, its largest brand at $3.5 billion in annual sales, Taco Bell ($3 billion) and Habit Burger & Grill ($570 million).

 

“Pizza Hut has dragged on the otherwise solid results from the group,” Saunders said in his note. “In essence, the good numbers from KFC and Taco Bell have been clouded by the ongoing sales slides and profit slips at Pizza Hut.”

 

For Yum China, acquiring Pizza Hut in China will give it control of what it describes as the largest casual dining brand in the country, with segment revenue of $2.3 billion last year. It plans to boost locations to more than 6,000 by 2028 from roughly 4,400 at the end of March.

 

LongRange, based in Stamford, Connecticut, owns companies including 24 Hour Fitness.

17509: Reducing Redundancies At Omnicom Media US Operations.

MediaPost reported Omnicom Media has apparently worked through the C-suite restructurings, redundancies, and RIFs in US operations resulting from the Omnicom acquisition of IPG.

 

And the survivors-winners are—drumroll, please—White people!

 

Omnicom Media Reboots U.S. Management, Blends Former IPG Leadership

 

By Joe Mandese

 

Seven months after its acquisition of Interpublic, Omnicom this morning unveiled a reorganization of Omnicom Media’s U.S. operations, blending the senior talent of both organizations.

 

Former IPG Mediabrands exec Stacy DeRiso becomes general manager-U.S. of Omnicom Media, a new position created after she held the dual role of global brand president and U.S. CEO of Initiative.

 

Long-time Omnicom exec Susanne Grundmann becomes global brand president of Initiative, while former IPG Mediabrands’ Rob DiGiovanni becomes U.S. CEO of Initiative.

 

Grundmann previously served as CEO of the EMEA operations of Omnicom’s PHD unit and prior to that served as CEO of OMD Germany.

 

DiGiovanni steps into the U.S CEO role following four years as president-global business lead at Initiative, overseeing several of the agency’s biggest accounts.

17508: Sir Martin Sorrell Surveys His Failures.

Adweek interviewed Sir Martin Sorrell, who vomited vitriol in standard Sorrellian style.

 

The trade journal stated, “Sir Martin Sorrell has been an expert on M&A for almost half a century.”

 

Has he? It could be argued Sorrell’s expertise seriously eroded over the past decade at least.

 

His S4 Capital venture seems closer to breakdown than breakthrough.

 

Meanwhile, Sorrell’s notorious achievement—WPP—is a flaming dumpster. Indeed, the White holding company was death-spiraling toward a catastrophic crash landing long before Sir Peanut pulled the ripcord of his golden parachute.

 

Sir Martin Sorrell has been an expert…? At this point, he’s an expert has-been.

Sir Martin Sorrell Sees No Easy Exit for Holding Companies

 

Accenture should buy WPP and more insights from the S4 Capital executive chairman.

 

By Ryan Joe and Alison Weissbrot

 

Sir Martin Sorrell has been an expert on M&A for almost half a century. He founded WPP through reverse acquisition in 1985, and built it up into a towering ad giant that snapped up major agency brands like J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather, and Young & Rubicam. 

 

Following an ignominious departure in 2018—WPP accused him of misusing company assets—Sorrell plotted a comeback, founding S4 Capital just weeks later. 

 

S4 built itself up through acquisition, notably production agency MediaMonks and performance agency MightyHive, positioning itself as a digital-first holdco. Lately, that thesis has been severely tested as many tech clients, where S4 has heavy exposure, pulled back on marketing spend to invest in AI. 

 

Revenue contracted, and shares fell about 38% over the course of last year, though its early 2026 results have indicated improvement. S4 currently views itself as being in a period of stabilizing its business before revisiting growth-by-acquisition. 

 

ADWEEK sat down with Sorrell to get his read on the market, who should buy whom, his competitors (whom he’s never been shy to criticize), and S4’s next steps.

 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It was conducted before Publicis said it would buy LiveRamp, and Accenture said it would buy Whalar.

 

ADWEEK: The ad agency holdcos have gone from the biggest industry acquirers to acquisition targets. What’s the outlook?

 

SIR MARTIN SORRELL: There are very few, if any, exits. No activists have stepped in.

 

There are no takers. Most of the big deals would involve syndicates. One PE firm couldn’t write the check for WPP or Dentsu. Maybe Bain Capital could have done it on their own.

 

Besides Publicis, is any big holdco a buyer at this point?

 

Omnicom probably isn’t. Dentsu is not going to be in buying mode. Stagwell will try. The irony may be, this is the time to take the risk because valuations are so battered. But I don’t think people would take a risk.

 

If anyone was going to take a risk, who do you think it would be? 

 

Well, Havas. Maybe not of scale. But [Havas CEO Yannick] Bolloré always sends you in the wrong direction. Always. Keeps you guessing.

 

And I think Accenture. If I was [Accenture CEO] Julia [Sweet], I would go for WPP. With them, they could get significantly better. I think the media piece in their hands would be very valuable. But whether they’ve got the balls though… It would be messy. But you’ve got David Droga there.

 

Publicis has been on a successful run. Is it sustainable?

 

What Publicis does—everybody says it’s all proprietary trading, which is why I think The Trade Desk thing is dangerous territory for them, they’re going to turn the microscope on themselves—is they look at the client as a whole.

 

Omnicom and WPP are falling into the trap of the matrix being driven by capability. The reorganization of WPP and the reorganization of Omnicom is capability-first, client second, geography third. Publicis and, indeed, ourselves is geography first, client second, capability third.

 

What’s wrong with organizing around capability?

 

You have warring factions. If you do it by country, you have inter-country rivalry, inter-region rivalry, that’s true, but you get people to integrate what they do. Publicis got it right. Can they maintain it? Well, the industry wisdom is these things go in cycles. 

 

Actually, John Wren, if you look at Omnicom Advertising Group before they acquired IPG, had a better strategy. He was trying to push them together. Publicis didn’t nudge. They were quite forceful. And it was painful for them. They were more violent than probably I would have been. But directionally, it was the same thing.

 

What do the holdcos look like in three years?

 

I don’t know what [WPP CEO] Cindy [Rose] is going to do. She has huge balance sheet problems. But I would guess Omnicom will still be here. Publicis will still be here. Dentsu will be in a different form. Havas will be in a different form. WPP will be in a different form.

 

Let’s talk about S4. You guys had a tech winter. Where are you in all of this?

 

It’s tough. We rely on wholesale AI adoption. We really depend on more car verticals, more financial services verticals, more packaged goods. If we can get a little bit more traction, it will be fine. But we need more traction. And we’re not organized enough. Our integration has not been perfect by any means. Liquidity is much better.

 

What does that traction look like and how do you get it?

 

Traction looks like building relationships. If you look at our biggest relationships—Google, Amazon, T-Mobile, Disney, GM, Meta—there’s good stuff there, but the problem is that 45% of it is tech. And they’re all spending money on capex.

17507: On Elephants In The Room At BP.

This BP employee training video empowers people to speak up against disrespectful and/or abusive behavior in the workplace.

 

Okay, but based on historical accusations, maybe the visual metaphor should’ve been a White elephant in the room.