Over on Adweek, the comments section has taken the shape of a slugfest. It’s Arnold employees (the disgruntled, departed, laid off or employed) vs. Arnold employees (the disgruntled, departed, laid off or employed). The article over which these people are spitting is about the agency being placed under the EuroRSCG masthead. And yo! It is so nasty over there. Here’s a sample of the fury:
adhound: “Oh, please! If Arnold had been doing good creative all along this wouldn’t be happening now. The work has been crap for a couple years now. All Favat ever cared about was truth – he didn’t know how to do anything good on any other brand. This isn’t the fault of ‘greedy execs’ – this is chickens coming home to roost.”
Steve C: “All shops are doing poorly but Arnold’s done nothing creatively or on the new business front since Favat took over. I don’t know of any “fat” that was trimmed over there. I do know of some good people, great at their jobs who were let go. I also know of a lot of 22 year olds that are horrible at their jobs that now run the place. What a great shop it used to be. Without a change in management I don’t think Arnold will be around in a few years.”
Arnold lover: “The thing I hate about blogs is any liar or angry dickhead can write this type of drival. Does doing that make you feel better? the lying? the bashing? I know you must be hurting from the loss of your job. But this is no way to move forward. So to straighten out steve c, adhound, and realist. You are probably one person anyway. Since Pete Favat was promoted Progressive, Volvo, Carnival to name a few have joined Arnold. Pete and Pam Hamlin were put in charge at the worst time in the agency history. the day kerri martin told upper management VW was leaving. Lets face it. VW was the only thing winning at Arnold. Then truth came brought in by Pete, then ESPN came, then Timberland to name a small fraction. The leadership Pete and Pam have provided created the most successful two years the agency has ever seen. Sorry things didn’t work out for you at Arnold. Maybe you should stop being so disgruntled and clueless. (22 year olds running the agency?) Get your facts straight at least. And maybe try to spend time doing something productive. Or do you find it more satisfying shredding people who are actually trying, working hard and doing something good? The world is already full of what you have to offer. Try something new for a change.”
VW Fan: “In 2005 the party was over, and VW was stripped away for reasons the entire industry knows: Kerri Martin and CPB wre in cahoots. Everyone felt sorry for Arnold and everyone still looks back and sees the body of work from the Drivers Wanted era as one of the best in history. the creative since has been classic Crispin: all over the place with no single unifying vision, hoping something cool will catch fire. meanwhile sales have plummeted 100,000 units, even before the recession! The brand has lost all the cool. I don’t know about all the arnold politics but arnold and the team from that era was no doubt in the zone, even after Jensen left for modernista. VWs terrible decision popped the arnold balloon.”
And it just goes on and on and on and on….
More: Reading List: The Happy Soul Industry, by Steffan Postaer