14585: Brazilian Bullshit Bashes Bigotry.

For an advertising agency to produce an anti-racism campaign is hypocrisy of the highest order—and it’s even worse coming from a shop in Brazil.

14584: Marching Blindly Towards Patronizing Poop.

This campaign from India allegedly showed support for blind women during International Women’s Day. Okay, but why salute blind women with an out-of-home print campaign? Perhaps the creators were eyeing awards…

14583: The Martin Agency Shows More Cultural (Lab) Cluelessness.

Adweek reported The Martin Agency opened a “cultural impact lab”—and hired two White people to run it. Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

The Martin Agency Opens a Cultural Impact Lab to Harness the Power of Earned Media

Jaclyn Ruelle and Greg Fischer will lead the practice

By Erik Oster

The Martin Agency is expanding with the opening of a cultural impact lab within its creative department.

The practice combines communications strategy, earned media and paid amplification cultural activations to help brands connect with audiences, drive brand relevance and discussion.

“Our job is to make our clients’ brands as noticeable as possible,” The Martin Agency CEO Kristen Cavallo said in a statement. “Buzz and earned media are necessities. Consumer indifference is at an all-time high, and activations and experiences are creative media multipliers.”

The agency hired Jaclyn Ruelle to lead the practice as svp, managing director, cultural impact and brand communications, alongside svp, head of communications and engagement strategy Greg Fischer.

Ruelle joins The Martin Agency from fellow IPG shop MullenLowe, where she spent around eight and a half years, most recently as svp, group account director. During her time at MullenLowe, Ruelle worked with brands including Zappos, E*Trade, Feld Entertainment, American Greetings and JetBlue, earning Cannes Lions for JetBlue’s “World’s Toughest Job” and “FlyBabies” campaigns.

“The creative media multiplier is an imperative, not a nicety,” Ruelle said in a statement. “People must talk about your brand for it to succeed. It’s not enough to be right—right can be ignored. By embedding PR into the creative process, impact isn’t luck, it’s engineered.”

Joining Ruelle in the practice are Kate Spade and BCF Agency vet Dominga Gardner and Britt Flippo, who formerly served as the agency’s media relations manager.

Before joining The Martin Agency in 2016, Fischer led communication and media groups with agencies including VB+P, kbs+ and Swirl, working with clients such as Walmart, Microsoft, Coca-Cola (Nestea), eBay, PayPal and Barclay Global.

Joining Fischer in the practice are vice president, group director, communications strategy Taylor Grimes, who formerly served as vice president, group director of engagement strategy at Deutsch L.A. and The Martin Agency vice president, group media director Michelle Daidone.

The opening of the cultural impact lab follows the agency’s introduction of a talent and culture unit last July.

14582: Does Facebook’s New Ban Go Far Enough?

Facebook announced it will ban White nationalists and White separatists from posting on the site. Meanwhile, White advertising agencies continue to be welcome. Go figure.

14581: It’s March Madness When The Non-Saints Go Marching In.

An early April Fools’ Day gag: President Donald Trump and Jussie Smollett are declared not crooks in the same week. R. Kelly and Robert Kraft are jockeying for position, desperately competing to complete the trifecta.

14580: The Martin Agency Continues To Crawl Towards Diversity.

Looks like The Martin Agency hired a couple of people of color—and offset the progress by also hiring two White men. Hey, the White advertising agency is on it. Sort of.

14579: Keeping Abreast Of The Titillating Changes At DDB.

The new DDB logo looks like large breasts. Did DDB Global President and CEO Wendy Clark freelance Ted Royer for the redesign?

Why do White advertising agencies and White holding companies assign resources to craft new identity systems—while cutting staffers, freezing salaries, etc.? The true identity of an enterprise can’t be concealed by a flashy logo.

14578: Whiny Bullshit Of The Day.

This Harpersfield Vineyard campaign encourages people to get drunk when faced with daily inconveniences.

14577: Nerds Need Viagra.

Tech Finders should find a designer. The company logo appears to be suffering from erectile dysfunction.

14576: Wunderman Thompson In UK Presents White Management Team.

Campaign reported on the new UK management team at Wunderman Thompson, which looks pretty much like all the old UK leadership at Wunderman, JWT, Wunderman Thompson and every other White advertising agency on the planet.

14575: The Seven Deadly Sins Of Sir Martin Sorrell.

Advertising Age reported on the latest Sir Martin Sorrell escapades with a headline claiming that the diminutive pimp said clients are digging his “faster, better, cheaper” S4 enterprise. Not sure if the Ad Age scribe was taking creative liberties, as the piece didn’t quote Sorrell uttering the phrase. If he did make the statement, it’s just another example of his awfulness. After all, Sorrell’s highly responsible for the slow, worse and expensive business model he now implies is unsuccessful as he labels his fresh venture as a “new era” peanut. Yet he’s still financially benefiting off the “old era” digital advertising and marketing services company he created. Sorrell suffers from more pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth than ever.

Sorrell says ‘faster, better, cheaper’ S4 is resonating with clients

Venture’s inaugural results released today

By Megan Graham

S4 Capital reported an operating loss during its inaugural preliminary 2018 results today, yet Martin Sorrell’s new digital marketing venture showed it has gained a fair amount of traction since its formation in May.

The company saw pro-forma revenue—which refers to consolidated results of MediaMonks, MightyHive and S4Capital as if the group had existed in full for the year—increase 58 percent from 2017 to £135.9 million or $181.5 million. It reported an operating loss of £8.5 million or $11.3 million.

After officially launching last year as a “new era” digital advertising and marketing services company via a reverse takeover of Derriston Capital, S4 brought MediaMonks on board last July and then acquired MightyHive in December. S4 now has approximately 1,200 employees in 16 countries and says it has new-business assignments from Mondelez, Bayer, Nestle, Procter & Gamble and more.

The company said its offering of first-party data-fueled digital content and programming is resonating with clients, as is a single profit-and-loss statement structure and a “faster, better, cheaper” positioning.

“With this environment, what clients want to do is take back control,” Sorrell said. “That’s the line that you may recall that Brexiteers used very successfully in the referendum campaign in the U.K. two or three years ago. I think it’s exactly the same with clients. They want to take back control of their destiny … They feel that they have to exercise control and the battleground is first-party data and data generally, having control of that and if the platforms are not willing to share that data ... what clients are going to do is try and develop their first-party data and we’re intimately involved in trying to do that with them.”

Wesley ter Haar, MediaMonks founder and an S4 board member, said on a Monday morning results call that the digital production agency believes the traditional model is still very focused on “hero assets,” in many cases TV ads, and that the effort that goes into creating content for the rest of the media ecosystem is less evolved.

“We think ideas are very important,” ter Haar said on the call. “But we don’t think we’re currently in a landscape where it’s all about a single big idea. It’s a creative framework and within that framework we need to be be hypertargered, driven by data, personalized, constantly A/B testing, constantly optimizing against all of these different channels that the actual media buy is bought against … So less about a single big idea and more about lots of smaller ideas, hypertargeted and really attached to the context of the channel they’re being distributed on.”

MightyHive and MediaMonks also talked through case studies of how they’re working with clients. For MediaMonks’ work with Netflix show “Narcos,” ter Haar said the shop is seeing an exponential need for content while budgets are stagnant or decreasing. He said with that trend comes a focus on data-driven creative. For Narcos, he said the shop is using first-party and third-party data signals along with a creative framework to create “a million-and-a-half different possibilities of tailored ads.”

He said this is cutting costs by 40 percent, will cut time to market from 12 weeks to four weeks and will increase the performance of the ads since they’re better-targeted and more personalized.

14574: Is DHL Serving As A Mule For Drug Cartels?

Is this campaign related to Spain returning pre-Colombian artifacts seized from drug cartels? If so, it feels kinda disrespectful to send the stuff back via DHL. Hell, it might have been better to ask Leo Sharp to handle the transport.

14573: Cannabiz Team Believes In Joint Collaboration.

Cannabiz Team specializes in staffing exclusively for the cannabis industry. Is the hipster team on the website homepage reviewing a detailed document or planning to roll a humungous joint?

14572: Ill Illustration For International Women’s Day.

Etu Odi Communications—with offices in Lagos and London—saluted International Women’s Day with this crude concept that looks like it was rendered by Jasper Hahn.

14571: The Rewards Of Being Sir Martin Sorre££.

The BBC reported Sir Martin Sorrell pocketed £2.13m worth of shares as part of a long-term executive performance share plan from WPP. To put the figure into perspective, that’s roughly £2.13m more than any of the 2,500 WPP employees slated for termination can expect to receive. And if WPP is doing so poorly that it must seriously downsize and reengineer, why would past and present leadership qualify for a plan allegedly rewarding performance? Leave it to a glorified accountant like Sorrell to create schemes that exclusively benefit the greediest scumbags. Yep, the man really is a crafty pimp.

Sir Martin Sorrell gets WPP payout a year after leaving

A year after Sir Martin Sorrell resigned as head of the advertising giant WPP he will still receive shares worth £2.13m from the company.

The pay-out is from WPP’s long-term executive performance share plan, the Financial Times reported.

Sir Martin will receive 250,000 shares plus dividends under the plan, the FT says.

Sir Martin resigned from WPP last April after the board investigated claims of misconduct, which he has denied.

He then took charge of a shell company, Derriston Capital, and turned it into S4 Capital, a “multinational communication services business”.

In July last year WPP threatened to take away his share awards when it turned out that both WPP and S4 were competing to buy Dutch firm Mediamonks, and it was thought Sir Martin was in breach of his confidentiality agreements.

S4 acquired Mediamonks later that month and WPP has not pursued any legal claims over Sir Martin’s bonus.

The share awards are could be worth up to £20m over five years to Sir Martin. However, this assumes a very good performance by the firm, which saw profits drop last year to £1.46bn.

He still owns 1.4% of WPP shares worth about £150m.

In the past he faced shareholder revolts over what many saw as excessive rewards.

In 2017 more than one in five shareholders voted against his £48m pay package, the seventh year in a row that more than 20% of investors failed to endorse his pay.

14570: MDC CEO Q&A LOL BS.

Advertising Age interviewed new MDC Partners CEO Mark Penn, who had the pleasure of introducing himself during a 4Q earnings call that revealed MDC revenue dropped roughly $10 million over the past year. Then again, the drop is not so bad when put into perspective; that is, it’s less than half the amount former MDC Partners CEO Miles Nadal had to repay the company after an SEC investigation.

Penn made a couple of remarks warranting comment.

When probed on the decision to go after MDC Partners, Penn said, “…[T]here was no other deal in the world that includes such crown jewel agencies and reputations in marketing such as the MDC deal does. Everyone talked about the incredible core agencies here that are true flagships within the industry.” Okay, but a few of the true flagships were seeking to pull their jewels from the crown. And one flagship—CPB+—is undergoing a major reconstruction after floating adrift for many years.

Regarding his vision for the White holding company, Penn said, “In the role of CEO you have to supply a vision and I think the vision here at MDC was always a great one. The great vision was that it would be the house for great talent. Great talent—really in many ways I see that as the driving vision before and after my taking over as CEO and I hope to give that kind of new life, new meaning. With all the turmoil at some of the big holding companies, we can be a great magnet again for talent.” Sorry, MDC isn’t the house for great talent; rather, it’s an outhouse—and the talent smells like what is typically found in an outhouse.

14569: MDC Partners Has New Partners. New Problems To Follow…?

Advertising Age reported Stagwell Group is taking a $100 million stake in MDC Partners, and Mark Penn will become CEO of the White holding company. Wikipedia labels Penn as “an American former pollster, political strategist, lobbyist and author”—although he also toiled at Burson-Marsteller. A peek at the Stagwell Group team indicates Penn won’t be as intolerant of intolerance as his diversity-defending predecessor. A handful of executives from MDC Partners provided anonymous color commentary on the latest events, with one leader declaring, “[T]he problems with MDC have nothing to do with capabilities or talent. They have everything to do with bad decision-making from a board of directors that was utterly clueless and useless most of the time.” Gee, wonder which honcho from the White advertising agencies who sought to bail out of MDC Partners said that. Or maybe a certain Chief Creative Engineer was just mouthing off. At least the board wasn’t engaging in blatant corruption for a change.

14568: WPP Expels Powerhouse Bowel Movement In Seattle.

No, it’s not an early April Fools’ Day prank. Adweek reported WPP dumped the Seattle offices of Wunderman, Possible and Cole & Weber into the magical merger toilet and flushed to create Wunderman Thompson Seattle. Thank goodness the White advertising agency has a Global Chief Talent Officer, Global Chief People Officer and Global Head of Culture to wrangle such an abundance of talent, people and culture.

WPP Folds Possible, Cole & Weber Into Wunderman Thompson Seattle as Part of ‘Powerhouse’ Merger

Possible’s Joe Crump to lead WT New York

By Patrick Coffee

Less than four months after forming Wunderman Thompson from the merger of the world’s oldest creative shop, J. Walter Thompson, and direct marketing pioneer Wunderman, WPP has made another big agency move.

The Seattle offices of Wunderman, Possible and Cole & Weber will join to become Wunderman Thompson Seattle in what is essentially an extension of this rolling merger, with the three set to share an office in Possible’s former global headquarters effective March 29.

“This is part of the same narrative [CEO] Mark Read has set for WPP,” said Wunderman Thompson North America CEO Shane Atchison, with the agencies combining their creative, technology, analytics and commerce capabilities “on behalf of our clients.”

Wunderman Thompson New York will serve as the global home base for this new entity, meaning Possible no longer has its own headquarters. And while that agency will now technically become a part of Wunderman Thompson in both Seattle and New York, the Possible brand will remain in respect to certain key clients such as AT&T, Microsoft and VW. Possible officially became part of the Wunderman network in 2017, but the two remained separate agencies. Yale & Olive, a conflict division of Wunderman, will be unaffected, according to several parties close to the matter.

Several leadership changes will occur as a result of this merger.

Justin Marshall, who had been managing director of Wunderman Seattle, will now serve as president of Wunderman Thompson Seattle. Mike Doherty, president of creative agency Cole & Weber, will take on an unspecified leadership role at the new company. And in New York, Joe Crump, who had been managing director of Possible and led WPP’s Volkswagen team, will now hold the same position at Wunderman Thompson.

Marshall and Crump will report to Atchison, the former Possible chief who returned to WPP last December after more than a year in the software startup world. He announced the move to all Seattle staff in a town hall last week.

“Seattle has a creative and entrepreneurial spirit that leverages emerging technology to create a unique environment where talent thrives,” said Atchison in a statement. “Wunderman Thompson Seattle combines three brands that each have deep roots in creativity, data and technology to create a new kind of agency that truly stands apart from the rest. I couldn’t be more excited to have Justin lead and guide this powerhouse agency.”

An agency spokesperson declined to comment on changes in the roles of Possible managing director Gareth Jones and CEO of the Americas Martha Hiefield. The combined entities currently employ approximately 350 people in Seattle, and it is unclear at this time whether any positions will be eliminated.

Prior to joining Possible, Crump spent more than 17 years with the Razorfish organization, where he founded the Product and Service Innovation Practice. Atchison praised him as “a world-class storyteller with a profound interest in emerging technology and culture,” citing the “unique lens with which Joe looks at everything around him” as an asset to the New York team.

“We’re at an inflection point for the way brands behave in the world—and for the role that agencies can play in driving that evolution,” said Crump in a statement. “It’s exciting to work with a team like Wunderman Thompson that has the depth and scale to help brands grow by combining data and technology with world class creative.”

According to multiple parties with direct knowledge of the matter, the purpose of this particular merger is to streamline the Wunderman Thompson organization by eliminating or consolidating some of its sub-brands on a region-by-region basis while simultaneously combining teams with expertise in areas like Amazon Marketplace and iOS app development, thereby offering a fuller suite of services in one place. The Possible brand will remain primarily to satisfy the demands of large-scale clients familiar with that agency’s teams.

As for whether all these organizations will eventually fold into Wunderman Thompson, one individual said, “nobody knows.” The source added that it would be a mistake to focus on the structure of the resulting network. “Moving agency chess pieces around is soulless. It’s less about finances and CEOs and more about people looking for signals: companies that are bringing them together, forming teams and giving them something to believe in,” the person said.

Much speculation will concern the so-called winners and losers in this ongoing mega-merger. Those who have spoken to Adweek see regional leadership teams within the affected networks remaining somewhat intact while individuals with global roles stand a greater chance of becoming redundant.

One person close to these changes described them as a “regionalization of the business with global connectivity at the center,” adding, “The whole thing needs to be rebuilt. Clients should take advantage of this moment and leverage the best opportunities for them.”

14567: Wunderman Thompson Global Chief Talent Officer Is A Wordy Oxymoron.

Adweek reported Wunderman Thompson played musical chairs with its Global Chief Talent Officer position, recruiting Maree Prendergast from Publicis Groupe and shifting Laura Agostini to another role within WPP North America. On the one hand, Agostini offered zany perspectives and technically had been at the helm during the Gustavo Martinez-Erin Johnson debacle, Jo Wallace-Straight White Men fiasco, gender pay gap scandal and more, so maybe it was time to make a switcheroo. But what is the value of swapping her for a clone from Publicis Groupe—who oversaw talent at Publicis.Sapient to boot? The move feels like onboarding a clown from a rival circus. And if WPP executes the plan to execute 2,500 workers, does the White advertising agency need a Global Chief Talent Officer at all? Instead, recent hires have included Global Chief Talent Officer, Global Chief People Officer and Global Head of Culture. If there’s a Chief Diversity Officer too, they represent perhaps the most diverse example of useless talent of any single organisation.

Wunderman Thompson Hires New Global Chief Talent Officer From Rival Holding Company

Laura Agostini will move to a role inside WPP North America

By Erik Oster

Wunderman Thompson attracted its new global chief talent officer from a rival holding company.

Maree Prendergast is joining Wunderman Thompson in the role from Publicis.Sapient, effective as of March 25. Laura Agostini, who previously served as global chief talent officer for the agency, is moving on to a position within WPP North America.

As global chief talent officer, Prendergast will be tasked with overseeing talent strategy and execution, driving agency culture. She will be based out of Wunderman Thompson’s New York office and report directly to global CEO Mel Edwards.

“Talent is the most valuable and important aspect of our business, and Maree’s ability to build and execute against our agency’s strategy will be imperative to the success of Wunderman Thompson,” Edwards said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Maree to the Wunderman Thompson family.”

“I am excited to be part of this global agency at its inception and to guide the growth of its talent across the network,” added Prendergast. “I believe the core offerings that Wunderman Thompson delivers make it an exceptionally unique and exciting place to be a part of.”

Prendergast was named chief talent officer at Publicis.Sapient in August of 2017, following a year and a half in that role for Publicis One. Before that, she spent over two and a half years as chief talent officer, North America for MSL Group.

The move follows WPP naming Judy Jackson to the new role of global head of culture last week and hiring Jacqui Canney from Walmart as global chief people officer the week prior. WPP unveiled the branding for the new Wunderman Thompson at the beginning of February.

14566: Before Annie The Chicken Queen Inherited Her Crown.

This 1997 Popeyes commercial features someone who appears to be a cousin of Annie the Chicken Queen…?

14565: Global Creative Director Of Intel Agency Inside Is Outside.

Adweek reported Intel Global Creative Director Teresa Herd has left the building, following the decision to detonate the company’s in-house agency. Ironically, Herd recently wrote, “…[M]ost internal agencies don’t work. The reason they don’t is that too many people build them to their own vision, not based on what the company needs.” It’s hard to tell exactly how prophetic Herd was in this case, as the reason for the Intel failure was likely also tied to politics. After all, Herd and former Intel CMO Steve Fund arrived together from Staples, and Fund left the tech company last July. A departing CMO usually ignites adverse side effects for the external agencies that soon find themselves in a review to retain the business. Could Fund’s exit have fueled the internal agency’s downfall too? Plus, White AORs are rarely supportive of internal agencies—and if White AORs are beholden to White holding companies, it becomes a business objective to sell the client on sister shops willing and able to handle the chores typically assigned to the internal agencies. Herd’s comment actually applies on a broader level. That is, most White advertising agencies don’t work. The reason they don’t is that too many White people build them to their own vision—staffing them with their own kind—not based on what the client and customers need.

Intel’s Global Creative Director Exits After Company Dismantles In-House Agency

Teresa Herd is moving into consulting work

By Lindsay Rittenhouse

Intel has confirmed the departure of its vice president and global creative director Teresa Herd who oversaw the Silicon Valley’s in-house hub Agency Inside.

The departure follows Intel’s decision to lay off all of Agency Inside’s creative and production staffers to focus the in-house operation only on account services last November. According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, about two-thirds of the nearly 100 Agency Inside employees were cut.

Those people said Herd, who was unavailable for comment on Friday, has branched out on her own to consult with brands regarding internal agency and branded content work. She has already started working with several unnamed companies, according to these sources.

Intel declined again on Friday to say how many employees were laid off from Agency Inside or provide any details regarding Herd’s departure.

At a Campaign-hosted event in New York last December, Herd said through tears that the day she told her team that Agency Inside would be downsizing and initiating a round of layoffs was the “toughest” in her career. She added that all of the employees came back the next day “because we built a culture of people who supported each other and really cared about the business.”

In an earlier Adweek interview about the restructuring of the in-house team, she also declined to provide details on the amount of staff cut.

“Agency Inside was founded to tell the brand’s untold stories to consumers and to bring brand awareness on a global scale,” Herd said. “As Intel’s business has evolved and expanded, it is recalibrating its focus to marketing to the ecosystem. If telling brand stories won’t move business in the ways that Intel wants it to move, then the org[anization]’s focus as it stands today no longer fits into the overall marketing concept.”

Herd and former Intel CMO Steve Fund, who left the company last July, both joined Intel in 2014 from Staples where Herd was vice president and global creative director for 14 years. One person close to the business said Fund was a big proponent of in-housing creative work and led that approach at Staples where he was senior vice president of global marketing.

Together, Herd and Fund brought 60 to 70 percent of all Intel’s marketing efforts in-house through the formation of Agency Inside in 2015, leaving primarily broadcast and business-to-business marketing to external partners. Now, Agency Inside will focus entirely on the latter category.

Intel has yet to name a new CMO. The company also forced out CEO Brian Krzanich in June after an internal investigation uncovered a personal relationship with an employee.

14564: Brazilian Advertising Is Fucking Lame.

In Brazil, advertising jobs are apparently handed to any dickhead.

14563: Ads Of The Women Versus Ads Of The Minorities.

Ads of the World collected over 50 advertisements commemorating International Women’s Day. In contrast, Black History Month presents four search results—essentially two concepts from previous years.

14562: Fearless Girl Meets Clueless Men.

Advertising Age published a Bloomberg News report on the latest lawsuit involving Fearless Girl. State Street Global Advisors—the investment firm that financed the erection of the statue—sued the artistic creator for allegedly selling replicas without permission. Okay, let’s get this straight. First, the company that promoted itself with Fearless Girl wound up paying a $5 million settlement for underpaying women and minorities. The hypocrisy is compounded by peeking at the Leadership Team, where it appears the only person of color is the Head of Human Resources. Oh, and Fearless Girl’s creator is female—so seeing her attacked by a company predominately comprised of White men constitutes a PR fumble. And for the lawsuit news to break around International Women’s Day completes the cultural cluelessness. Hey, maybe State Street Global Advisors will also sue the copywriter who landed her job by dressing up like Fearless Girl—a clear copyright infringement.

People are getting angry About ‘Fearless Girl’ again (no bull)

Good thing she’s fearless, with all these ticked-off humans around.

“Fearless Girl,” the sculpture State Street Corp. installed in downtown Manhattan two years ago to great fanfare and consternation, is now the subject of a court order blocking her creator from selling a replica to buyers in Germany.

A federal judge in New York this week issued a preliminary injunction barring the artist, Kristen Visbal, from completing the sale, promoting the replica or using an online form to sell others, according to a court filing made public on Thursday.

State Street put the artwork on Bowling Green, across from the financial district’s iconic statue of a charging bull, before dawn on International Women’s Day in March 2017, calling on companies to add more women to their boards. The creator of the bull decried its placement, saying it changed the meaning of his work, and a public debate raged on Twitter. “Fearless Girl” was later moved in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

State Street Global Advisors sued Visbal in February, saying she was selling replicas of the work without permission. Visbal is “weakening and adulterating the Fearless Girl message,” and her buyers are misusing the image to promote their own companies, the investment manager said in the suit.

In his order, which will remain in effect while the suit is pending, U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods said State Street had shown it was likely to win its case on the merits and would suffer irreparable harm if an injunction weren’t entered.

Visbal’s lawyer, Nancy Wolff, said in a statement that Visbal’s contract with State Street “clearly provides that Kristen, as the creator and copyright owner of the artwork, may sell both full-size and miniature replicas of the artwork.”

“Once the public knows the full story,” she added, “they will see that it is Kristen who is the Fearless Girl.”

State Street spokesman Marc Hazelton had no immediate comment.

—Bloomberg News

14561: Regarding Diversity In Adland, It’s Always Ladies First.

As predicted, the trade journals spotlighted lots of original executions and splashy campaigns from White advertisers and White advertising agencies celebrating International Women’s Day. Why, the publications even created their own gushing tributes. A single day inspired endless and expensive propaganda for women—while 28 days generated a handful of half-hearted nods for Blacks.

14560: Look Out, Wheaties—Cheerios Is The Breakfast Of Champion Hypocrites.

Advertising Age spotlighted the latest patronizing propaganda from Cheerios and 72andSunny, made with 100% Whole Grain Oats and 110% Whole Lotta Bullshit.

Resorting to borrowed interest for campaign concepts is bad enough, yet what Cheerios and 72andSunny shat out also qualifies as borrowed inclusion. The cereal brand is seemingly promoting progressiveness, but it’s literally and figuratively a bunch of song and dance. 72andSunny has developed a mastery of deception with its 3% Certification and Divertsity Playbook. Such smokescreens, however, can’t hide the exclusive leadership—despite the recent hiring of Keith Cartwright.

Advertising icon David Ogilvy is credited with uttering, “If you have nothing to say, sing it.” White advertisers and White advertising agencies sing about diversity and inclusion when they’ve got nothing to show for it.

14559: Daggerwing Group Is Desperately Seeking Desperate Senior Copywriter.

The actual job listing depicted above includes a bullet point requiring that candidates for the Senior Copywriter position “Are ok with working in ambiguity.” Um, applying for the job would confirm the matter. But it seems to indicate the White consulting agency is not a creative-friendly environment, likely making copywriters work sans a brief, clear objectives and direction. In short, you must be okay with time-wasting exercises, wheel-spinning initiatives, irresponsible account people and incompetent planners. This is all confirmed via another bullet point that reads: Can copyedit others copy to your hearts content (sic).

14558: Delayed WTF 45—Black History Month In Adland Is Off Strategy.

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.

As mentioned with the Steve Stoute perspective published by Adweek, it seemed like the advertising industry was delegating diversity celebrations during Black History Month. That is, lots of Black executives filled lots of content and column space discussing the dismal dearth of diversity in adland.

Why?

Sure, diversity is an important discussion topic. And it certainly gains relevance in the month of February. But isn’t the purpose of Black History Month to honor accomplishments, contributions and heroic figures? And wasn’t the BHM 2019 theme on Black Migrations?

International Women’s Day is happening on Friday, March 8. Does anyone expect to see a focus on the prevalence of sexual harassment, gender pay gaps and mansplaining in advertising agencies?

No, it’s more likely the industry will excrete a barrage of big-budget big ideas to globally salute sisterhood for 24 hours—a stark contrast to the royalty-free stock images used to crummily commemorate Blacks for 28 days.

14557: Fourteen Years Of Collecting Captivating Cultural Cluelessness.

MultiCultClassics marks 14 years of displaying the devolution, diversion, deception and denial of diversity. Thanks for joining the party.