Happy Advertising Week!!!

Alas, there will be no parade of icons, as The New York Times reports:

Since 2004, consumers have been asked each year to vote for their favorite characters to join a “Walk of Fame” on Madison Avenue. Among the nine icons elected so far: the Aflac duck, Mr. Peanut and Tony the Tiger. The first three years, organizers of Advertising Week also put on parades in Midtown that featured costumed versions of the nominated and winning characters.
Some industry executives said the characters were overshadowing the more substantive aspects of the week’s events. That view was articulated most loudly by the trade publication Advertising Age, which missed few opportunities to mock their participation.
Jonah Bloom, the editor of Advertising Age, owned by Crain Communications, said: “It’s not that the icons aren’t a fun part of the industry. But the industry is more sophisticated than that. An industry with smart tools to move the sales needle, that wants to attract smart people, was being represented by Mr. Clean and Mr. Peanut.”

Well, Jonah may have been the loudest, but 3 years ago in a TalentZoo.com column, I was the first.
UPDATE: Never mind. Steve Hall was the first. But I got in on it early, too.