The Price Isn’t Right For GSD&M
April 22, 2008
Tribble points us to a new scandal for the downtrodden GSD&M. Seems the agency is getting sued. The Austin Statesman, spends quite a bit of time following the turmoils of the shop and from their pages, it seems:
“The lawsuit stems from a national advertising campaign that depicts a man waiting to check in for a flight who is asked by attendants to spin a wheel for a prize: a seat on a large plane. A song similar to the theme from “The Price Is Right” plays.”
The client, Southwest Airlines, is also named in the suit. The onus is on , owners of the show, to prove that consumers will be confused by the and say, head to the airline’s website rather than that of the iconic game show. You might think this is an impossibility. However, consumers can be daft. Totally daft.
Agencies and brands are always getting sued. With their army of lawyers, you’d think they could secure this kind of stuff out of the gate. For example - take the Addams Family themed spots created by BBDO for Mars’ brand M&M. The agency and brand cleared only some of the rights with the “Addam’s Family Foundation,” failing to clear incidentals on the usage rights for likeness of the characters portrayed in the print and TV spots. Mars is now being sued, though BBDO stays in the clear. Ryan Bowling, a spokesperson for Mars, said that it was the company’s policy not to comment on pending litigation. C’est la vie.
April 22, 2008 at 2:30 pm
It seems there is a lot of tutorial that is sorely needed at Idea City.
Case in point…a few weeks ago, Roy Spence called all the GCDs in and asked for their help tutoring new ECD Mark Taylor in how to manage. It seems he’s never done that before.
First they ask the GCD’s to take a 20% pay cut to pay Taylor’s salary, then they ask them to show him how to be a CD.
The lawsuit is the least of their problems.
April 22, 2008 at 4:06 pm
This isn’t the first time GSD&M has been accused of “borrowing” other people’s ideas. In fact, it’s a longstanding tradition. The new Air Force tag line that’s been used by other countries’ air forces, Chili’s ads using the same talent (in the same exact way) as another restaurant chain, John Deere using a positioning that the agency has tried for several other clients and new business pitches — it’s a lengthy list.
That’s why it’s called Idea City and not Original Idea City.
April 23, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I guess Paul Silburn wasn’t into tutoring Mark Taylor when he was at Fallon.
April 28, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I just saw Adweek’s agency report cards are out. GSD&M got a D- in Management, an F in financials and a B in Creative.
And the creative department is the part of the agency they decided was busted and needed fixed?
And in a related story, Crispin Porter got an A-…maybe they’d better boot Alex Bogusky, they seem to be slipping toward GSD&M’s creative standards!