It was right there, sitting in front of us all along, but until this morning the dots couldn’t quite connect. Now we wonder, did Publicis N.Y. pick up their new CEO because of his ties to Johnson & Johnson — which has a $110 million account up for review?
Here’s what we knew before today.
July 18: AdAge reports that Johnson & Johnson, Joe McCarthy’s former employer, has put its pharma group up for review.
July 23: McCarthy, former VP of worldwide advertising for J&J is named CEO of Publicis N.Y. (AdAge, we’re told, reported it first).
Keep in mind, J&J has invited a number of global holding companies to scramble for their business. We learned today, thanks to one of our loyal spies, that Publicis Group, is on the list of invitees.
Could Publicis have known about the impending review, and picked-up McCarthy so as to have his knowledge to parlay? What better way to pitch a $110 million account than by holding the former VP of worldwide advertising. Our spy notes the impending doom that J&J’s numerous independent partners should be getting ready for. I smell a Dell-esque fallout.