Trust the bloody Brits to come up with the goods. Stephen Foster, over at “More About Advertising,” has an interesting post today about Wieden & Kennedy. It would seem that the world’s best independent agency has very quietly sold its six-storey 220,000 sq.ft. Portland HQ in the city’s Pearl District to capitalist criminals, JP Morgan, for a not too shabby $65million. Wow, what the fuck is that all about? As far as Stephen knows, the agency’s is staying put. The iconic building, was built in 1908 for the Fuller Paint Company, then turned into a warehouse before falling into disuse. W+K spent $36m restoring it in 2009. Why W+K sold it or what the money is intended for is a bit of a mystery. Dan Wieden has repeatedly said he thinks the BDHC’s are a bunch of fucking wankers and he will never sell the shop. Retirement? I doubt it. Anyway, it’s only bricks and mortar. The valuable stuff goes down in the elevators at the end of the day. Not that the fucktards running the BDHC’s would ever acknowledge that immutable fact! Oh, and as usual, AdAge and AdWeek apparently know fuck all about this. There's not a mention of it in either rag.
AdAge and AdWeek reporters ask "Whats a W+K?"
