“Crispin, Porter + Bogusky is an advertising agency that, to say the least, divides opinion.” That is the opening to a pages long piece in the recent Business Week. Look, CP+B is a good shop. They work hard, push boundaries and sometimes they hit, and sometimes they miss – just like every other agency in the world. I take no issue with the shop as a whole, but how many times is major media going to cover these guys for being controversial? Seriously. From the article:
“A survey of online commentary about the agency, combined with the opinions of creative directors at rivals (off the record, natch) reveals certain themes. Accusations of facile humour, a lack of interest in art direction or aesthetic qualities, and an aggressive interest in courting the press, both for its clients and its own gains, are all regularly repeated.”
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Actually, that kind of reaction could be attributed to every agency. Just take a gander at the comments on this blog or over at Adweek or Adrants. Arnold, DraftFCB, Anomaly, Mother, Taxi, GSD&M… they all get their share of the shit talking. Plus, almost every agency courts the press. It’s the press who decide who gets coverage and they just lurve the Crispin story. Media is all over their jock. They’ve helped to create the cult of CP+B and they just keep buying into.
And now, Crispin is bigger than the brands it represents, which clearly, the brands like. They want to be with the hot, controversial shop. They don’t care that their brand is subsumed within Crispin’s. In some cases, they desperately need the agency’s press machine to bolster their own brand image. Old Navy? What have they got going for them other than Crispin? Nada.
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