We couldn’t resist leaving you tonight with this pretty amusing “announcement” from Droga5, which states that McGarryBowen picked up the Droga5 holiday card account. Yes, in case you haven’t heard about it by now, this is the Drogas’ way of taking the piss a bit this holiday season and it’s a nice follow-up to last year’s full-page ad in the Australian that the agency took out to encourage the industry to have more fun. The “release” nicely captures the tone you’d see in any AdAge report regarding account wins and proves Droga5 has a sense of humor even after losing Bud Light to McGarryBowen.
Read it verbatim after the jump.
NEW YORK, NY – December 19, 2011 – Droga5 today announced its selection of McGarryBowen as the advertising agency of record for its holiday card business. The hard-fought win caps a stellar growth year for Dentsu-owned McGarryBowen. The agency will handle lead creative duties for the Droga5 holiday card account.
“We’ve decided to go with McGarryBowen,” said David Droga, Droga5’s Creative Chairman. “After a lengthy review, we simply couldn’t ignore the strategic insights into holiday cheer that McGarry brought to the table.”
Droga5 spent more than $.0005 million in measured media on its holiday card business in the U.S. in 2010, according to Kantar Media. McGarryBowen beat out a host of shops believed to include Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Ogilvy & Mather, Slingshot Dallas, Wieden+Kennedy and Digitas, as well as longtime incumbent Droga5, which was cut from the shortlist in October, marking the end of a nearly five-year relationship between Droga5 and the Droga5 holiday card account.
“We’re surprised about this loss,” said Andrew Essex, Droga5’s CEO. “We helped build the Droga5 holiday card business from the ground up, and we thought we nailed this year’s brief with our integrated idea, ‘Happy holidays to all our friends.’ This was the one blemish on what could only be described as a spectacular year for us, financially and creatively. We wish the Droga5 holiday card team the best.”
For McGarryBowen, which will run the account out of its New York headquarters, the Droga5 holiday card win thrusts the agency under perhaps its brightest spotlight yet.
Ever optimistic, Mr. Essex said, “When one door closes, another one opens. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we’re excited to show the world more pithy card magic.”