Advertising, ad campaigns, ad agencies, and the people that make it happen

Today’s news that Ogilvy & Mather has won creative ad duties on Johnson & Johnson's sponsorship of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, brings to mind the question I have to ask myself every four years… Why do multi-national companies continue to throw away bucket loads of money on Olympic sponsorships? I’ve worked for various agencies and various clients, from Y&R on Xerox and O&M on IBM, creating numerous Olympic ad campaigns. In the final analysis all the effort has had nothing to do with advertising and marketing goals. It’s all about luxury boxes for entertaining clients. But, I guess that’s what sport is all about these days!

I have dedicated my life to winning gold in the weird face painting event at Beijing 2008!