The Diary of Putney Swope.

Gossip from the AAAA Media Wing Dig

A TDPS Exclusive
Reportedly, Jeeves, the recently fired Ask.com spokesman (read story), showed up in the middle of Al Gore's keynote address drunk and stumbled his way up the the podium.  He was pulling the wire of the microphone in an unsuccessful attempt to grab it out of the ex VP's hands in the middle of his speech.  All the while he was screaming at the top of his tuxedo clad lungs..."Shut your pie hole you boring fat ----."  Tempers got further flared when it ended up that it wasn't the microphone wire that Jeeves was pulling on, but rather the pony tail of Jeff Scott (SVP of media planning at MPV).  Mr. Scott, a devout follower of eastern philosophies and fan of the sitcom Seinfeld, was heard to be mumbling, "Serenity now, serenity now."  The Ask.com spokeswoman we spoke to said the company would no longer comment publicly about their recently departed spokes butler.  When asked whether it was problems like this that caused Ask.com to fire the 7 year employee, she responded, "Do you think?"

AdWeek's Conference Coverage
AdAge Conference Coverage
Daniela Pestova Pics

Saatchi & Saatchi to Open shop focused on Redneck marketing.

Saatchi & Saatchi is rumored to be putting the final touches on a new agency division that will focus specifically on marketing to Redneck Americans.  This move is believed to be a direct attempt to counter act a weak showing the agency has had in winning some of the largest African American and Hispanic American accounts that have been in review in the past year.  The new agency will be named Saatchi & Saatchi Red and will be headquartered in Beaver Falls, Arkansas, about 40 miles outside of Little Rock.  A Saatchi spokesperson commented that "Redneck Americans, as a consumer segment, represent the 148th largest spending group in the country.  In addition, their disposable income is growing at the rate of .25%."  The agency is already believed to be in discussions with Walmart, Copenhagen Smokeless Tobacco and Dairy Queen about possible assignments.  Saatchi & Saatchi Red's new logo is expected to incorporate components of the confederate flag with the tag line, "There's no Red, White and Blue without the Red."

We hear that....

Rolling Stone founder, Jan Wenner, might be going in a totally new direction to replace ousted publisher, Steve DeLuca.  An unattributed, unquoted, unauthorized outsider says that Wenner might be looking at the two relatively unknown publishers of AdWeek and AdAge magazines to fill the opening.  Seems that they have two things he's looking for.

First, they both have detailed knowledge of and contacts in the ad industry which he hopes can be used to quickly, as in ASAP, turn the tide on 2005's flat ad sales.  Second, coming from trade magazines, they'll require a significantly lower pay package than their better known and better paid mass media publisher brethren.  Something the famously tightfisted Wenner would like to have as a job requirement.  We tried to reach VNU and Crains, parent companies of AdWeek and Adage respectively, for comments but the V's had been ripped out of our phone book for some reason and Chicago based Crain's isn't a local call.

Here's the story on DeLuca's departure in Crain's NYB.com
http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?id=12996

Another story on same subject in the NYPost.  More tawdry of course which we believe means better journalism.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02182006/business/60110.htm

Crain's attributes his exit to "the completion of his contract" while the NY Post blames it on a dispute over a big party.  That's why we love the Post.  They always dig a little bit deeper to get the important facts to their readers.

more to come...