KB+P’s Whitewater

KB+P’s Whitewater Adventure

Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners art director Matt Barclay, raised in Maine and Oregon, deems himself a “semi-seasoned” outdoorsman. Since moving to New York two years ago, he spends far more time in the concrete wilds than the natural ones. So when he and copywriter Michael Parrott decided to use white-water rapids to convey the idea of being carried away by bad investments for an Edward Jones ad, Barclay should be forgiven for not recalling that rafting is a spring sport. Out West, “all the rivers were beds of sand,” and East Coast rivers were too tame. So Barclay and company called in the Army Corps of Engineers to open a dam in West Virginia. Releasing the pressure on the dam prevents flooding, so the Corps were happy to comply, releasing 2,000 cubic feet of water per second. Actor Steve Monarque, equipped with a pool floatie and two off-screen safety experts, navigated the rapids for an hour and a half. But he wasn’t alone. “We all got soaked,” says Barclay.



Y&R’s Puppy Love

Young & Rubicam in New York is sponsoring Marsi, a yellow Labrador search dog, via the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. The NDSDF offered the agency an honorary sponsorship of Marsi, who was sent to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit, as a thank you for the shop’s work for the foundation. Marsi visited the New York shop for a meet ‘n’ greet earlier this month. Y&R’s involvement with the NDSDF also involves ads: radio spots are due out early next year.



In Brief

Scott O’Leary, 41, art director, and Ryan Peck, 36, copywriter, have joined Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis as creative directors and partners. They will work on the A.G. Edwards and Harley-Davidson accounts. … David Droga will be film and press jury president for the 2006 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Droga, 37, is currently creating a joint venture with Publicis Groupe called Drogafive.