Ad Sector Is Quiet as Rescue Bill Passes

NEW YORK Business leaders last week went on a public relations offensive to convince average Americans -- and, more importantly, Congress -- that a proposed $700 billion financial rescue package was vital to resuscitating the U.S. economy. The blitz was designed to communicate the point that the financial mess is a "Main Street" issue affecting millions of consumers, and not just a bunch of Wall Street fat cats who got too greedy. It seems to have done its job: Last Friday, a revised plan passed the House of Representatives after passing the Senate two days earlier.

One business sector, however, remained surprisingly mum during the offensive, given the billions of ad dollars at risk with the economy at the precipice: Adland. While leading marketers like Procter & Gamble and General Electric spoke out, ad groups, including the key trade associations and agency holding companies, were silent on the topic, preferring to let their clients and others speak out on the issue if they so chose.

"We have not taken a stand," said Dan Jaffe, evp and head of the Association of National Advertisers' Washington office. "It's not that we aren't interested, but we try to husband our resources to focus on more purely advertising issues versus general business issues."

A rep at the American Association of Advertising Agencies said the organization also had no plans to weigh in on the financial crisis. "It's not on the agenda," the rep said, declining to elaborate further.

Agency holding company reps essentially said the same thing.

In contrast, business titans such as Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, P&G CEO A.G. Lafley and GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt had leapt into action by way of various media outlets and direct contact with the nation's political leadership. They argued that the government had to do something or face dire economic results.

Buffett and other business leaders began their full-court press after the U.S. House of Representatives defeated a proposed rescue package last Monday with a majority of members calling the plan a "bailout" they couldn't support. The defeat, however, sent the markets into a death spiral that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummet almost 800 points.

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