YBNBY Logo
ornate line
How 238 People in Houston and McLean Cost An Ad Agency a $60 Million Account

careerbuilder.gif

For each Super Bowl since 1989, USA Today has assembled a crack staff of adult volunteers to rate the commercials. This year's panel was made up of 238 people from Houston and McLean, VA.

After two consecutive years of high scores for monkey-centric ads, CareerBuilder.com finished a forgettable 16th this time around (watch the ad below). And it looks like that's going to cost agency Cramer-Krasselt the $60 million account, which it's handled for five years.

From AdAge (via AdPulp):

In an internal memo issued today, the agency's president, Peter Krivkovich, said CareerBuilder put its account up for review after the agency's Super Bowl ads failed to rank in the top 10 in USA Today's viewer poll.

"To our amazement, to our total astonishment, all that astounding business success was less important than one poll," reads part of Mr. Krivkovich's memo. "C-Kers, we have to tell you -- in our entire history, hell in the history of this crazy thing called advertising, I'm not sure there has ever been any thing as baseless or as unbelievable as that. It's so ludicrous and they are so serious about that poll it's almost funny."

The agency helped build the brand up from nothing. And I actually liked these ads (I'm a sucker for campaigns that spoof the dreary workplace.) In an unrelated story, Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith – the lowest-paid coach in the NFL – has not signed a new contract extension. But I guess in football, as in advertising, just getting to the Super Bowl isn't enough.

Share on Facebook StumbleUpon ToolbarStumble This    Submit to RedditReddit!

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin

3 Comments

Wow. That's idiotic. I always found the ads good-not-great, but they certainly helped the brand a great deal. If this is true, it's no wonder why Monster is still kicking their ass- the marketing folk are asshats.

said harry angstrom on February 27, 2007 3:11 PM.

Good! The new ads were HORRIBLE!!! The monkeys always made me laugh and got the point across.

said C.C. Chapman on February 27, 2007 4:00 PM.

I think you transposed the irony. 258 people too stupid to get out of doing a survey cost Career Builder the services of the agency that was directly responsible for making them a contender with Monster.com. The Chicago Tribune ran the memo in it's entirety (I'd post a link, but the spam filter would catch it), and it's not that Career Builder fired Cramer-Krasselt, but rather than CK said 'Well, fuck you too, assholes' and walked.

Beautiful, actually.

said alphamonkey on February 28, 2007 1:19 PM.
Post a comment
The
greatest
pop culture
blog on the
planet.
 
Or
maybe not.


rss feed Breakfast Links Feed

Recent Comments

"Cut! The Ewok is humping Roker!"
WoW! I'm surprised the Ewok didn't light up a smoke after that ... Al got pwned
Ben Lurkin

Rap to the Future
There just aren't words to describe how awesome this is!
Vicky

Halloween Memories: Bugs Vs. The Monster
Where can I get a pair of sneakers like the monster's? Those are sweet.
palmieres

Manu Ginobili Kills Trespassing Bat
Bring it strong, or don't bring it at all, bat.
Don't Swayze Bro

"Beat it," Just Waiting for the Bus
youtube url moved here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW1gHwiZJFg totally wort
karlaanne

3 Chords & the Truth Episode #28: Happy Halloween
Best three chords yet.
Chad

Comments Feed

Link Love

YesButForum Posts

Happy Birthday, Brother Bill!
Well, it's the least I could do, since I didn't buy him anything and I didn't ev
Miss Cellania

The 2009 State of The Forum Address
To The Loyal 77 Well folks, This time last year, the forum was a buzzing beeh
Sheriff Pablo

R.I.P The Forum
I write this while mourning the loss of our dear friend the ybnby forum. After
Frank the Tank

Got something to say? Post a message on our forums.

Special Features

Other Recent Posts

rss feed Our Main Feed
10817 entries, 40067 comments, and counting.

New to YesButNoButYes?

Monthly Archives

YesButMailbag