I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Time Inc.’s Assignment Detroit, as you may already know, is promoting a contest that has several of Detroit’s most prominent ad agencies competing to create the best “Selling Detroit” ad campaign.
The idea is to see what the best, local advertising gurus can come up with to persuade, in particular, young people across the country to consider moving to Detroit.
Here’s the daring description from the contest Web site:
We asked five Detroit ad agencies this question: Why would anyone smart, young, and creative move to or stay in Detroit?
The backdrop to the contest, of course, is Detroit’s acute image problem these days stemming from unprecedented industrial decline, sky-high unemployment and home foreclosures, among other problems. The contest site goes on to showcase the concepts from the five entries — with an invitation to to vote for the best one. The contest winner will be announced on Dec. 2, and best of all, it appears there will be no real loser.
That’s because all five of the entries will be featured — free of charge — in the Dec. 7 issue of Fortune magazine (available on newsstands Nov. 23), in addtion to three other Time Inc. media properties: time.com, cnnmoney.com, and fortune.com.
According to a New York Times story on the contest, the value of that free advertising in Fortune magazine alone comes in at an estimated $400,000.
But in that same story, near the bottom, comes this downer:
Among other agencies asked to participate was the Troy office of BBDO Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group. But the office did not take part because of uncertainties over its fate, centered on the coming expiration of a contract with its client, the Chrysler Group.
The story goes on to note that BBDO’s local office — the office responsible for many sucessful ad campaigns including the hugely-popular “Hey, that thing got a Hemi?” spots from a few years ago – is slated to close at the end of January. Assuming that Chrysler doesn’t change it’s mind, that means hundreds of creative-types could be out of work.
Yet, that’s the antithesis of Time Inc.’s goal for the contest. Or maybe it’s yet another reminder of why the contest is necessary.
Either way, why BBDO didn’t enter the contest is beyond me. And if you read the comments string from a Detroit Free Press blog posted earlier today on the contest, you’ll find a heaping helping of cynical reactions, including this one from scottshew:
All the ads in the world can’t fix the brain drain; we need professional level job vacancies.
Isn’t irony depressing sometimes?
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter