Volkswagen said it has named MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky to handle creative chores in the U.S. and Canada.

Havas' Arnold here had previously handled the business for the past 10 years.

Arnold has done quite a lot of good and memorable work for VW over the years, but as VW sales have been slipping lately, this serves as a potent reminder that no agency-client relationship is ever safe.

The other thing that's interesting here is that Arnold & Crispin collaborated for years on the anti-smoking "Truth" campaign, so these two agencies have a history together.

And Crispin has resigned the MINI account due to the account conflict. That'll be fought over, I'm sure.

By Thursday morning, the ads, which featured celebrities such as New Orleans native Aaron Neville, were done. Next, the agency is sending people to Louisiana over the holiday weekend with clothes and supplies for shelters.

As reported by the Austin American Statesman: "The ads show hurricane footage with a series of red minus signs, followed by the words "home," "electricity," "food" and "water." The next frame shows two people hugging, with the sign of the Red Cross and the word "hope," and a voice-over that says: "Hope is more powerful than a hurricane."

The Hidden Persuader posted this Neil Frenchism last week.

"The answer to making an ad is always in the product, if you look for it. Our task is not just to find that answer though - it's to make the answer relevant to someone who, at present, doesn't give a shit about it. So first I look at the product and deconstruct it ... what Robin Wight used to call 'interrogating it until it confesses to its strenghts'."

Perhaps French and I are old-fashioned, if not old, but I agree wholeheartedly with his assessment. My favorite works always reveals a product attribute in some new way I wouldn't have considered.

For instance, Starbucks bottled frappuccino drinks are currently supported by a spot where a woman walks through her office place while burdensome objects magically attach themselves to her as she progresses toward the kitchen. The product benefit here is that Starbucks can help—if only temporarily—remove stress from your day. It's a memorable and modern take on the time-honored coffee break.

Burger King's advertainment angle, care of CP+B, takes another approach—one that has nothing to do with BK's inherent advantages over McDonald's and Wendy's. I'd love to see the Coconut Grovesters come up with a refreshing spin on flame-broiled. Mr. French might enjoy that, as well.

According to Adweek, Budweiser is placing increased empahasis on their distribution channel.

Anheuser-Busch is about to debut folksy TV ads in its bid to be more local by loosening compliance standards for its wholesaler network, giving distributors more flexibility to be entrepreneurs.

A-B executives had said during past wholesaler gatherings that distributors needed to adopt an incremental growth perspective with new products rather than always looking for the big market share home run. The brewer also encouraged wholesalers to lead more grassroots initiatives.

Chairman August Busch III reiterated the street marketing push during a recent conference in Orlando, Fla., and assured distributors that they would be less encumbered by equity contract reporting exercises so they can spend more time selling beer.

"[A-B executives] are saying we have to be open and flexible for whatever comes down the pike because the marketing of the future will be niche marketing," said a Southern wholesaler.

There are two types of change: change within a system of beliefs; beliefs that stay the same. And change in your system of beliefs; e.g. your assumptions about the marketplace, customers, and your role. If you want to change, you have to change twice. Yes, you must change the reality of the situation. But you must also change how you view that reality.

The business world is teeming with companies engaged in the first type of change. They continue to erode profitability and morale by changing within their old, ineffectual system of beliefs. A system of beliefs perpetuated, by the way, by many well-intentioned people (and many not so well-intentioned).

Now, The Gap has a new set of celebs—Liz Phair, Keith Urban, Joss Stone, Jason Mraz and Alanis Morissette—plus a new look-and-feel to the ads. The photography is striking, for sure, but the ads lack that certain "throwback to a simpler time with The Gap" feel of the earlier work.

In Hugh's comments, Kathy Sierra says:

Blog Finder is ludicrously easy to game. I just made myself the #3 authority on Microsoft ; ) But Scoble temporarily made himself the #1 authority on Apple, so what the hell...

It's probably only a matter of days before every major topic returns an identical list of the most-linked blogs, in order, regardless of the true nature of the blog.

I'll add that I prefer human-generated rankings to any computer's. Sure the number of incoming links give an indication of the blog's "market value," but a numeric popularity system lacks nuance and detail. For instance, I can say I like American Copywriter and the fact that I do, leads me to believe Sullivan Higdon & Sink (the agency where the blog is hosted) is a progressive place where smart people thrive. No computer is ever going to tell you that.

In 2004, he appeared in a number of PSA's designed to inform New Orleans citizens about the importance of protecting our wetlands.

Click here. Watch "Hurricane Sluggo." (I think you need Windows Media Player to watch it).

Walter Williams, Mr. Bill's creator, is a native of New Orleans, I believe. I'm sure he had no idea how exactly right he turned out to be.

It has redesigned the model that's been DeVille and renamed it DTS — which has stood for DeVille Touring Sedan on previous models — to conform with Caddy's three-letter model names: SRX, XLR, STS. (Submit questions now: Chat with James R. Healey, 2 p.m. ET)

Caddy says it has used the name DeVille continuously since 1949 and has sold 6 million quite profitably. But it is willing to dump the venerable moniker because it's come to have a dowdier image than the brand wants.

For example, Canon hired tall blonde women dressed to resemble the tennis star Maria Sharapova to mingle with passers-by at busy sites like Rockefeller Center and Times Square, handing out Sharapova fans - the paper kind - and subway maps bearing ads for the Canon PowerShot line of digital cameras.

At Canon, "We've got our TV to hit everyone," said Rick Booth, marketing services director for the consumer imaging group at Canon USA in Lake Success, N.Y. He was referring to commercials for PowerShot featuring Ms. Sharapova, created by DCA Advertising in New York, owned by Dentsu.

At the same time, Mr. Booth said, "we want to go beyond that and utilize Maria from a total marketing standpoint." So DCA worked with agencies like PSP Sports in New York; Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, part of Daniel J. Edelman Inc.; and the Canon USA internal marketing and public relations teams on TV alternatives.

In addition to the look-alike models, there are online ads and so-called wild postings of signs bearing a slogan from the commercials ("Maria was here"). Mobile billboards - trucks decorated with ads - are being driven around Manhattan.

Dear All,

We have been watching, as I am sure everyone has, the complete devastation along he Gulf. And wondering what to do. This morning I had a thought.

Brains on Fire occupies a space in Greenville, South Carolina that is about 11,000 square feet. We have some extra space toward the back of our first floor that we are planning to use for future growth. There are about 10-12 office spaces in total, complete with a furniture system. I was planning on short term subleasing the space, but I would be happy to donate it to a design/creative firm that has been displaced. We would, of course, consider any business in need, but my thinking is someone might benefit from our resources and vendor connections.

We have two T1 lines (one for data and one for voice) and could probably add on some extra phone lines if needed. We might even be able to find some extra laptops among us. With the help of realtor groups in town, we could also try to find some temporary housing solutions.

If anyone out there knows anyone in the Gulf area that may need this offer, please pass on our name and contact information. And if there are any associations that might know of ways to reach firms in need, again, please feel free to forward this information.

I am sure right now it is all about safety and basic needs, but very shortly - I hope - it will turn to “how can we get back to work."

Robbin Phillips
Brains on Fire
864.676.9663
www.brainsonfire.com

According to Orange Yeti, Greenville also has a new tea bar where one can enjoy a Bubble Tea.

T-Mobile said in a statement: "The free service is intended for those who have been displaced from their homes or are seeking refuge from the hurricane," adding: "This free offer for the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is for Wi-Fi service only, not T-Mobile voice services. There will be no charge for T-Mobile HotSpot service, at these locations, through the end of day Friday, September 2, 2005. The situation will be re-evaluated at that time to determine if the free service will continue."

While we're not entirely convinced that the company has actually been watching the TV footage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - and let's be honest, swimming to the nearest Starbucks to enjoy a double mocha chocka latte decaf while, ahem, surfing the web as the Louisiana National Guard battle gamely to protect the store's blueberry muffins from looters - the company can at least be applauded for the gesture.

A few educators interviewed for this article further estimate that as many as 50 percent of their own B.A. and B.F.A. graduates or certificate holders actually quit design within a year after graduation. The reasons for this vary: Certain programs provide inadequate tutelage and job counseling; or just as critical, many students are simply ill-suited to be graphic designers. Yet once accepted into a school or program, administrators are reluctant to "thin the herd." Instead they allow natural selection to take its course, and while survival of the fittest is widely accepted in the professional jungle, for an educational institution to release unprepared grads is irresponsible to the student and the profession.