WPP... Things are rumbling, if not tumbling!

As I've been writing about on AdScam, several things seem to be in the blender for dear old Sir Martin. Apart from the fact that he's seemingly discovered a taste for Guinness and is moving the Wire & Plastic Products offices to the green, tax free bogs of Ireland.

There are also strong rumors here that after having won and lost Wachovia Bank within 48 hours, there may be some merger of O&M with another WPP New York outpost... Probably Grey.

After all, O&M's new biz record is only marginally better than the state of the US economy... Say no more!

The sky is falling. Well, it is if you're a BDA!

No wonder Bloomberg is reporting today that US ad spending is down 3.7% in the second quarter, which is the biggest drop since 2001. What with the Wall Street bailout, the Iraq war, the crisis in what the American's laughably call "Health Care" (None of that Communist Nationalized health for the land of the free!) the sinking property market and rising unemployment.

This country is so deep in debt, my grandkids will be paying the Chinese back long after I've gone to the big pub in the sky. Obviously main stream media is the biggest sufferer, with more and more money going into the digital pot.

Worse news of all? Ad spending on liquor fell 14 percent to $196.4 million in the first half of the year. There go all my free samples! It's going to be a tough couple of years.

Greed is good... As long as you can get away with it.

With all the sh*t hitting the fan over here because of the Wall Street melt down, the Adverati are starting to get nervous about where there next billion or so in billings might come from.  The latest twist in the Chernobyl-flavored credit meltdown is the news that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will undergo transgender surgery and become...bank holding companies.

Any future MBA might now wish to consider a career in good old accounting, as opposed to an investment banking dream-position complete with the million-dollar bonus, not to mention the Aston-Martin in the driveway of the Hamptons' mansion. 

However, the expected change in the Wall Street business model is important enough to have future Gordon Gecko's altering their master plans. The most powerful man in the known universe is now not some highly compensated Wall Street firm head, but a government employee: Mr. Paulson. (Who used to be a highly compensated Wall Street heavy, walking with a multi-million golden parachute).

Speaking of employees, it is now safe to say that executive compensation, bonuses, golden parachutes, and pre-nup employment clauses will be changed to reflect new realities and some schemes may go away altogether. More importantly, some of the Gekkos that slithered off with giant parting gifts of "comfort money" might be asked to return a few million as well.

Anyway, the upshot will undoubtedly be the reigning in of large financial accounts and sponsorships. Expect to see the AIG logo's on Man United's shirts to be replaced by Fred's Auto Emporium.

Bill and Jerry do Microsoft!

I don't know if it's running in the UK yet, but Microsoft has just launched a new campaign here in the US featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill gates. The first spot was a ninety second TV spot that takes place in a shoe store. The next episode in the Bill and Jerry saga has just come out. You can see it at engadget in all it's four and a half minute glory.

This one has the dynamic duo moving in with a suburban family, primarily because, as every red blooded American knows Bill has the world's biggest house and Jerry has the world's largest collection of cars. So, obviously they want to see how ordinary people live. CP+B the agency responsible for this $300 million campaign is taking a lot of stick, 'cos a lot of viewers, just don't get it. Parts of it are pretty funny, but there's virtually no selling taking place. MS has said there will be more product push in later episodes, so we'll see.

The problem to me is that while this approach may work in Britain, most American's don't get this kind of humor, thinking that "irony" is some Eastern European country. CPB is famous for hit and miss campaigns, including the dreadful "Deadenbacher," Nike "History of Running" and "Mans Laws" campaigns that lost them all three accounts. The jury is out on Microsoft, and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully, Seinfeld's $10 million fee will pay off!

If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!

Every time I'm in the UK, first thing I do after checking into a hotel is put the TV on, then I hit the mini-bar. Or maybe it's the other way round. However, apart from the fact that once you get on British TV, it seems you're on it 'till you kick the bucket... Bruce, Terry, Cilla, Sir Cliff etc... And what the hell are all those cooking shows about? Which brings me to the point of this rant... Did you see the news that Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej violated the constitution by hosting television cooking shows and must resign from office, a court ruled on Tuesday. Holy s*h*i*t. I wonder what they'd do if they had Gordon f*u*c*k*i*n*g Ramsey on?

I'm not racist... Some of my best friends are British!

Oh dear, I seem to have trod on a few PC toes with my post about "Scrabulous" last week. I would suggest that those of you with delicate sensibilities watch a few re-runs of Monty Python, or even some recent episodes of the "Simpsons" before busting my chops about about racism.

And if you also think "Rat Vindaloo" is racist, I would suggest you avoid a trip to Trinidad. I once ate that particular dish there while on a TV shoot. And field rats are like hamsters. Very tasty, but you have to watch out for the tiny bones!

Cheers/George

Get a life... A real life!

I just wrote a post on AdScam talking about how Facebook has been canceling the accounts of heavy users. Now I read in the San Jose Mercury, that Venture capitalist Jeremy Liew claims Facebook will make about $35 million from the sale of virtual gifts this year, equating to roughly 10% of the sites $300-$350 million annual income. Earlier in the year, Liew pegged virtual gift revenue at $15 million, following an analysis over a seven-week holiday period. Personally, I think that sending virtual Martinis and Teddy Bears to people you probably wouldn't give the time of day to in real life is a joke. Not to mention a reflection of the state of mankind today. You want to send someone a gift... Get off your *** and do it for real. Failing that, sign up for SecondLife and live the remainder of your pathetic existence in cyberspace!