9543: Delayed WTF 15—IPG = No New Taxes.

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

Earlier this month, global news sources reported on a study revealing 30 big and greedy U.S. corporations that paid zero taxes in 2008 through 2010. On the list is Interpublic Group, parent company of advertising agencies like McCann Erickson, Lowe + Partners and Draftfcb. IPG brags about values including integrity and transparency—as well as corporate governance grounded in accountability. Yet explaining the tax dodging would require seriously twisting McCann’s classic line, Truth Well Told. Who knew there are tax incentives for inept leadership, account mismanagement, offensive advertising and mass layoffs? Perhaps IPG will become a case study for the Institute of Advertising Ethics. Or a target for the Occupy movement.