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AMC Series Inspired by ‘Mad Men’ Finds Ad Agencies Aren’t Buying

Jul 26, 2011  •  Post A Comment

An AMC show inspired by "Mad Men" is having a tough time convincing advertising agencies to sign on, reports Rupal Parekh in Advertising Age.

"The Pitch," an hour-long reality show, is set to begin pre-production in a few weeks, and it has yet to sign a contract with a participating agency, the story says.

Eli Holzman, president of producer Studio Lambert, said it has agencies and brands willing to do the show, however. He added that for "Undercover Boss," "We made calls to 2,000 companies across corporate America to get the one for the pilot. … It took a full year to get nine companies.”

But issues have been raised with the show, such as conflicts between existing clients and the marketers appearing on the show; who ultimately gets ownership of the ideas presented on TV; and lack of compensation for time used to shoot the program.

"We looked at the format and felt it was very misaligned with the way that we work with clients," said Doug Scott, president of Ogilvy Entertainment. "We didn’t feel that the pitch was staying true to the process in which our [industry] works. What we were presented format-wise felt forced to be a dramatic competition, in a soft-scripted manner, vs. a more natural way that agencies work with clients and how a campaign is born."

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