-After months of murmurs, Darden Restaurants is finally bidding adieu to its Red Lobster chain in a $2.1 billion all-cash deal. Your move, Rich Siegel. link
-Thiago de Moreas is leaving his ECD post at Droga5 Europe after just eight months, though he will still be freelancing for the agency. link
-IPG and Omnicom will split duties on Heinz’s $250 million global media account. link
-In case you missed it, the late John Palestrini was inducted into the AICE Hall of Fame during the organization’s awards gala in NYC last night. link
-Dentsu/Aegis has appointed Carat alum Tray De Groose as its first U.K. CEO. link
-For a two-week span, Samsung is literally turning Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport into one giant ad for the Galaxy S5 Android phone. This should go over well. link
-So, what can military history teach us about the Publicis/Omnicom debacle? link
-Ogilvy India is apologizing for a totally tasteless ad that promotes a mattress company of all things. link