MindShare Acquires Michaelides & Bednash

Pioneering Media-Planning Shop Will Fold Into WPP Agency; Founders to Head Unilever-Dedicated Unit

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — WPP Group’s MindShare today is announcing it its acquiring the company that practically invented media planning: Michaelides & Bednash.

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Bayer to Pull Yaz Ad After FDA Warning Letter Said Birth-Control Pill Exaggerated PMS, Acne Relief Claims

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals is pulling a 60-second ad for birth-control pill Yaz. The move comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed concerns that two ads for the drug go too far in suggesting the drug could help overcome PMS and acne.

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Unilever’s New Leader: You Can Expect Change

Polman Seeks Broader Adoption of ‘Alternative Communication Vehicles’

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — in an interview with Advertising Age, incoming Unilever CEO Paul Polman discussed why his appointment doesn’t signal that anything is fundamentally wrong with the CPG giant. He also covered why he doesn’t plan to remake Unilever as a Euro-Procter, his outlook on how to improve marketing and innovation, and why he holds no grudges against his former companies.

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New Michael Moore Movie to Premiere for Free Online Will Forgo Traditional Hollywood Media Buys to Promote Documentary on 2004 Presidential Election

Madison & Vine

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — One year after his health-care documentary “Sicko” got leaked online weeks before its theatrical premiere, director Michael Moore is taking the distribution of his latest film in his own hands. The controversial filmmaker will release his new documentary, “Slacker Uprising,” exclusively online as a free download for three weeks starting Sept. 23.

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Succession Rumors Circle P&G, Unilever

CEOs Patrick Cescau and A.G. Lafley Show Signs of Stepping Down

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Speculation is mounting that the chieftains of two of the world’s biggest advertisers, Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever, are laying plans to step down. Neither company will confirm or deny the chatter, and both have pointed to strong succession plans in place.

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How to Bridge the Digital Gap and Keep Ahead Brand-Building Principles Have Changed, but It’s Now Easier Than Ever to Understand Consumers

CMO Strategy

In writing my book “BrandDigital,” it was fascinating for me to see the knowledge gaps between those who did and didn’t know how to make sense of the latest digital branding opportunities.

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Media, Agency Circles Should Have Backup Plan for Obama

What Will You Do if the Unthinkable Happens?

Campaign Trail

Barack Obama is not the president of the United States. This is a fact. Also a fact: There’s a chance he might not become the president of the United States. But for those of us working in the media and living in the bluest of blue sections of this country, that’s hard to remember.

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Unilever Sells Detergent Brands Wisk, Surf, All and Snuggle Join Vestar Portfolio

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — As expected, Unilever today announced plans to sell its North American laundry business to Vestar Capital Partners, owner of private-label detergent powerhouse Huish Detergents, creating a bigger but still decidedly lagging No. 2 to category leader Procter & Gamble Co.

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Seth MacFarlane Discusses His Landmark Google Content Deal

Comedy Project Could be Industry-Changing Event VIDEO NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Seth MacFarlane, the country’s highest-paid TV series creator, says his new content deal with Google is so complicated even he doesn’t really understand it. Ad Age Los Angeles bureau chief Claude Brodesser-Akner caught up with the director at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills. The landmark agreement turns Mr. MacFarlane into an internet producer while transforming Google into an original entertainment content player with massive global distribution capabilities. PLAY

A Rare Admission: Wowed by Competitors’ Marketing How Vans Shoes Was Eclipsed by the Online Gimmick it Invented VIDEO Corporate marketing chiefs rarely admit that their company has fallen behind its competitors in a field it pioneered. But that’s what Doug Palladini, marketing VP of the half-a-billion dollar a year Vans, Inc., did at this week’s Associaton of National Advertisers’ Marketing Accountability Conference. In other news, Sobe debuted a follow-up to its Super Bowl spot that had supermodel Naomi Campbell dancing with lizards. And, State Farm erects a mini Yankee Stadium in Times Square. PLAY

Meet the Powerful and Real Women of the “Mad Men” Era One Club Exhibit Looks Back at Period’s Great Creatives VIDEO Although AMC’s hit “Mad Men” show portrays its advertising era as one of total male dominance, the truth is there WERE powerful women in real agencies back then. This fact is one of the core themes of The One Club’s extensive new exhibit at the Science, Industry and Business facility of the New York Public Library. Entitled “The Real Men & Women of Madison Avenue,” the show focuses on the individuals who actually created some of the century’s most iconic and industry-changing ad works. PLAY

World’s Largest Digital Sign Nears Completion in Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Building Becomes Vast Digital Billboard VIDEO Turning three sides of a 25-story building into a coordinated animation display, the world’s largest digital sign is nearing completion in Times Square. Commissioned by Walgreens, it wraps One Times Square, the famed building from which the New Year’s Eve ball drops. Its 23 synchornized digital screens dwarf those of the nearby Thomson-Reuters sign which has only 11 such units. The designers are determined to push the competitive advertising environment of Times Square to a whole new level. PLAY

Why Unilever is Quite Unexcited About Using HDTV Ads Director of Strategic Media Planning All But Yawns at Subject VIDEO Although hyping the advertising potential of HDTV is all the rage across the sales side of televisiondom, more than a few big markters have yet to be convinced. In fact, one of the biggest — Unilever — is quite unexcited about the whole thing. And that’s no small issue, given that the package goods giant buys $2.2 billion worth of U.S. advertising each year. In other news, ABC’s sales chief is not happy with talk about programming commercials according to their performance. And, some big rock stars have launched their own lines of coffee, which we put to the taste test. PLAY

Creativity’s 5 Top Ads of The Week: July 14, 2008 Absolut, PES, American Express, Monster.com, Channel 4 VIDEO Great Works and TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, offer online users Kanye-fication on behalf of Absolut; PES animates a tasty meal; Tina Fey bumps into Martin Scorsese for American Express; Monster.com and JWT, Hong Kong, show the sad state of underemployed toys; and 4Creative gives a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shining” for Channel 4. PLAY