Tag Archives: George Parker

I never met Pat Fallon, who’s died aged 70, or knew that much about his famed Minneapolis agency Fallon McElligott. Fallon, in the UK, was a notable shooting star of course: giving us Sony’s ‘Balls’ and Cadbury’s ‘Gorilla’ before disappearing ...

Some years ago my friend George Parker of Adscam fame spoke at the US 4A’s conference in San Fancisco on, among other matters, his favoured themes of Big Dumb Agencies and, his blackest of bête noires, Big Dumb Holding Companies. ...

When I was a kid I grew up on Factory Lane, Manchester, yes, Factory fucking Lane, ‘cos at the bottom of the road was the ICI Dyestuffs Division sitting on the banks of the River Irk, which was a different ...

Required reading for Big Dumb Agencies and Big Dumb Holding Companies – Madison Avenue Manslaughter. There is no question that the advertising agency business I used to know, love, and profit from, is in a radical state of change, not ...

My friend George Parker has been musing about Sir Martin Sorrell’s many deals at WPP, prompting this response on WPP earn-outs from correspondent Jane Don’t (below pic). Jane Don’t said… It’s quite a simple 10-step programme George: 1. “Buy” a ...

Oral gratification of one sort or another plays a part in many food ads – fair enough – although there’s sometimes more of the other. Cadbury’s Flake (below) being a celebrated example from the mists of UK ad history. Carl’s ...

I shall return to playing the piano in a brothel! Yeah, so the headline is a “homage” to Jacques Seguela’s 1979 book… “Please don’t tell my mother I work in advertising, tell her I play the piano in a brothel.” ...

With the recent MAA piece on the UK’s first TV ads I am reminded that I actually owe a great deal to Brian Palmer (creator of the Gibbs SR spot and a performer in another, see below) who was head ...

Who says there are no second acts? With the news last week that Rebekah “Medusa Hair” Brooks (left) is returning to the “Wizened of Oz’s” evil empire in a super, super senior position, it just goes to prove that it ...