Saatchi & Saatchi executive chairman Kevin Roberts has been suspended over comments about gender in advertising. How could an ‘expert’ in the industry be so astonishingly lacking in insight, asks business and brand strategist Jane Cherrington. We need to talk about Kevin. Mr Roberts has caused quite a stir by suggesting that gender inequality is over, … Read more
The heroic image of Richie McCaw chugging an ice cold bottle of Powerade has been blamed for ruining kids’ teeth, but as Jamie Wall finds, it’s far from the first troubling endorsement in All Blacks history. First published in June 2016. Richie! All this stuff about you being responsible for destroying a poor little kid’s … Read more
The Spinoff has been accused of being anti-Mark Weldon and his work from time to time, so we thought we’d get one of his defenders to make the case for him as a misunderstood visionary. Here is ZenithOptimedia’s Stuart Rutherford, arguing Weldon reshaped MediaWorks for commercial success at a time of great upheaval in the sector. Seven hundred … Read more
Last week the advertising world came together for its annual night of backslapping at the Viaduct Events Centre. But the Axis Awards are more than just an excuse for a booze-up, says an anonymous creative director – they can make or break careers. The Axis Awards show: the night when advertising creatives swap their Chuck Taylors … Read more
“I just was at a stage in my life where cheeseburgers were really important to me” – Hadleigh Sinclair. Christmas is stressful. Highly strung parents, lunch with inappropriate uncles and the inevitable December 24 Westfield mall clusterfuck of last-minute shopping for family and friends you should probably know better than you do. For Hadleigh Sinclair and … Read more
In an attempt to bring good luck to our rugby team, Calum Henderson spent an entire day in full brand immersion: surviving on and consuming only officially licensed All Blacks’ products. This post was first published in October 2015 There once was a time when I cared deeply about the All Blacks. I was 10, … Read more
Earlier this year, Mad Men’s prize asshole Don Draper was forever tied to Coca-Cola’s advertising history in an act of televisual finale-making so audacious that it raised the question: is great advertising art? The answer, obviously, is no, but does that necessarily mean its empty calories are worthless? That’s both a clunky rhetorical question and … Read more