ONDCP Contacts Agencies About $1 Bil. Campaign

The White House Office of National Drug Control Pol icy is talking to shops about taking over its five-year, $1 billion anti-drug media campaign, sources said.

The search, along with the preparation of a new RFP, comes after a gov ern ment report that said ONDCP’s lead shop, Ogilvy & Mather, overbilled the client. Ogilvy then became the subject of a federal probe by the Department of Justice to determine if the agency committed any criminal and civil violations [Adweek, July 2].

At issue is whether Ogilvy committed fraud when some of its employees added hours to their time sheets for the campaign, according to sources and the report by the Government Accounting Office.