McCann't

Talk about a big agency turd. Check out the new McCann World Group web site. There's already been discussion about it on other ad blogs, but I just can't stop thinking about it. It haunts me. It's not because it's a big agency falling on its face -- let's face it, there are plenty of small agencies that do lousy work and have crummy web sites -- it's just that it's quite a statement about our business when such a large agency does such ghastly work on its own behalf.

It's hard enough to get past the weird talking male executives -- Dooner! Cranin! -- but then you start to realize just how banal their whole pitch is. Demand Chain? Oh wait, I'm sorry, it's Demand Chain®. The big revelation here is that companies have to create, um, demand for their products. Imagine the looks in the client conference room when the McCann team weighs in with this exciting piece of information. No wonder so many people think ad professionals are such bullshit artists.

Right now, if I was a high-level McCann exec even remotely associated with this new site, I'd feel like I had just pulled the pin on a grenade. And I'd be diving behind my mahogany desk for cover.


-- Dean Gemmell