Draft/FCB throws a party?
So "JJ" sent me a flickr link last night to what appears to be a giant fucking party being thrown by DRAFT. I don't know where... I suspect Chicago, I don't know what the occasion was, and I don't know why there were so many people wearing strange outfits... But if anyone knows anything about this shit, share it with us... There's a couple of hundred pictures, so someone out there must recognize someone they know. I think the picture below is Howard in his party outfit.
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Would you like to be on my cellphone... Naked?
George, I think you may be barking up the wrong tree. If it was the agency's party, wouldn't the sign say, "Draft FCB"? Looks more like it could be a promotion for some brand of draft beer.
Posted by: OyVey! | October 14, 2007 at 09:30 PM
there's jaba the howard, drinking it up and making merry...
how old was this party? what's with the "frosty the snowman" motif? is this from a bygone era? like before they merged?
Posted by: the lower depths | October 14, 2007 at 10:27 PM
Draft always throws the holiday party in January when it can save a few bucks. By then, you don't give a shit though. I don't recognize a soul from the NY office, had to be Chicago. And it looks like Howard must demand headshots of all the white women who interview -- the ratio of nice looking birds is damn high (or they're all just narcicists hogging the camera). Pretty lame theme, if hiring actors or theater people to dress like faerie queens is a considered a theme....
Posted by: Auntie Christ | October 15, 2007 at 01:38 AM
What is Salman Rushdie doing there?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15041054@N03/1572237240/
Posted by: The Cartoonist | October 15, 2007 at 04:51 AM
o.k. so this being october....
and there being no /fcb on the signage...
and everyone looking happy(er) than they should after layoffs...
and client losses...
when was this party?
Posted by: the lower depths | October 15, 2007 at 05:13 AM
ah, that explains it... the shots are tagged january 2006... well, some of it.
Posted by: the lower depths | October 15, 2007 at 05:20 AM
This is Draft Chicago pre-merger.
The venue looks like The Park West.
Check out the last photo with a very happy pre Wal-Mart debacle Tony Weisman.
When I see these pics I feel bad for FCB. And advertising. And mankind.
Posted by: nacho | October 15, 2007 at 06:05 AM
Yes, Nacho, I agree, one can easily feel sorry for anyone who has to work for Howard Draft - and his other two thugs (plus their acolytes such as Teresa-don't-call-me-Terry-Fellows). There is absolutely nothing there to celebrate. A bigger, stupider Draft now that they've subsumed FCB and kicked out anything smart (read: threatening to their status quo)? The loss of FCB's key accounts? The loss/defection of some key people who were with FCB?, The lack of judgement (i.e: lion ad) taste and client-service-minded behavior? Where do you start? I don't care what or where in hell that picture is from: This management team has NOTHING to celebrate. The fact that they still have clients is stunning...but I wouldn't be throwing any celebratory parties if I were in their place...the clients who have remained are obviously "asleep at the wheel" and they might wake up, look around and quickly and wisely move on....Of course, there's always the fact that the Kmart group hired them...but that was basically because Kmart didn't have to pay Draft anything to handle their business - Draft needed the "win," as an attempt to try to "save face" after the Wal-Mart debacle.... Sorry, Salman Rushdie wasn't there...his brain would atrophy were he to be among all those stupid thugs...
Posted by: LAM | October 15, 2007 at 09:44 AM
Lower Depths called it; if you look at the Flickr page under Archive, all the pictures were taken January 2006 but were just loaded to the site this month.....weird someone did that, maybe it's a time capsule. People look happy......wonder what they looked like January of 2007.
Posted by: kypar | October 15, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Definitely an old party as I know at least 3 people in those pics and at least 2 of them haven't worked for Draft in at least a year. It is in Chicago.
Posted by: bam | October 15, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Definitely Chicago. Notice the couple of shots of Howard up on stage repulsing everyone with some choice bon mots he was spewing into the microphone.....Wonder what they were happy about?? They had just lost Wal-Mart....my hunch is many of those people are G-O-N-E. Perhaps this is a demonstration that Draft/FCB has now officially learned how to post "stuff" on line...they've always been what one might call "slow adapters" over there...perhaps Howard's figured out that they need to actually acquire some skills beyond envelope stuffing??!!
Posted by: LAM | October 15, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Yeah... Kinda weird someone would take this long to post about a thousand ugly pictures of an ugly event. But there are a lot of fucked up people out there.
Cheers/George
Posted by: George Parker | October 15, 2007 at 06:03 PM