AFR in scathing attack on board member Todd Sampson and his agency’s tobacco links
This cartoon was also carried with the piece in today’s column.
Fairfax Media board director Todd Sampson has come under attack in the Australian Financial Review today.
Today’s Rear Window column by Joe Aston questions whether the environmental credentials of the CEO of Leo Burnett sit awkwardly with the agency having tobacco company Philip Morris as one of its clients.
Sampson, who has become a TV personality as a regular panelist on the Gruen series as well as getting his own ABC show Redesign My Brain, became a director of Fairfax last May to add a level of marketing savvy to a board criticised in recent years for a lack of innovative thinking.
Philip Morris is a LB Melb client and has been for dozens of years.
Todd is National CEO.
Don’t forget his sterling work with junk food clients…
OTOH, how big would PM’s advertising budget be, considering they can’t advertise?
#JEFFWECAN
Scathing is a bit of an exaggeration. Joe does a back page satirical piece and it’s funny. Todd clearly draws eyeballs- smart move by fairfax. He can take it.
Todd must have upset you a lot, Joe, to deserve all those kicks. If he wants to be CEO of Leo Burnett, he has no choice other than to recognise Philip Morris as a client.
Who says only creatives can wear T-shirts? When did you last step inside an agency, Joe? Have you ever met Peter Biggs? Anyway, we all know Todd is pretty creative himself. As for the Board, I commend Fairfax for choosing someone like Todd to enrich their collective expertise – more forward thinking than Rear Window.
Hi CWB he’s the CEO of course he has a choice.
Fairfax could sell t shirts ‘as worn by Todd’ and throw in a free newspaper subscription
come on, CWB. Rear Window jabs at all sorts of CEOs and prominent execs – it’s a (very good) business gossip column. You don’t think taking money from a company like Philip Morris is even a little bit at odds with Sampson’s Earth Hour/”enlightened creative” public persona?
as someone who likes both Sampson and Aston’s public work i say it’s a fair cop, AFR readers will be interested in the connection & Todd is a grown man and a successful CEO, he can take it.
I remember fondly a day at a previous job where our National MD was doing his national office tour. For some reason he went on a bit of rant in front of us about how we’d never do any work for mining companies due to all the negative impacts they have on Australian society.
He was then asked by someone (who actually worked on a major alcohol account) if that logic applied to our alcohol clients.
I don’t think there was a response.
Philip morris is a global account of leo burnett worldwide based out of chicago. Melbourne has some of it. Todd has never hidden that, it was covered on the gruen transfer.
let’s be clear about a couple of other things while we’re all debating tobacco.
The entity that profits most out of cigarettes is the Australian government. 50% or just over of the total price of a pack of cigarettes is collected in excise. And that is all margin vs the retailer and producer costs. The government doesn’t actually have money – it collects and spends it on our behalf, so before we get on our high horse about Todd, we should remember that us, the taxpayers, benefit more from cigarette sales than Todd does.
Secondly, LB’s biggest client is Woolworths, who are the biggest seller of tobacco products in Australia. (as well as the biggest seller of alcohol AND the largest owner of pokie machines)
just saying
@Marlboro Cowboy
Good facts there. The Gillard government took a highly ethical stance, applauded by leaders around the world, for taking the advertising off the shelves.
It is inarguably at odds with his self styled positioning.
Why no discussion on this?
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=830058923732907&id=147632815308858&refid=17
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@Malboro
All margin and no cost. Say what? Um, the massive hit on public health is not a cost?
And your inference is that the government should be criticised before Sampson? Why?
They are taxing, advertising and regulating the industry to its knees. All I read here are random, incoherent facts.
Mr. Sampson has always come across as an incredibly smart individual and clearly a quality CEO. I for one wasn’t aware of his organisation’s association with Philip Morris. Rear Window is doing what the media should do, questioning, querying and drawing attention to things. It’s all fair play, as 1266 says.
However, he does have a choice – and maybe he is comfortable with having them on the books, but it’s a fair question given his pubic stance.
Meanwhile, if a News Corp journo criticises their own company or anyone in it their life is immediately terminated.
@Marlboro Cowboy – Well it’s all margin if you don’t count the huge medical tab the government picks up to undertake cancer treatments.
Rather, let’s talk about companies like Philip Morris …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UsHHOCH4q8
17, 20
yes, absolutely the health costs of smoking to the country’s finances is significant. I have no idea whether they are more than covered or not, by the mega revenue we generate by taxing cigarette purchases so heavily. Most of the writing on the subject is too full of hyperbole to be sure of it’s accuracy
17,
my inference isn’t that the ‘government’ should be criticised before Todd at all, just that people who immediately label Todd a hypocrite for being local CEO of a company that has a global tobacco client and take a strongly black and white position because of this, may not have considered the broader issues relating to tobacco sales.
and again, I think Woolworths are just as, if not more culpable to moral condemnation for their part in profiting from the nation’s unhealthy addictions, but somehow nobody blames agencies for working with them. (pities perhaps!)
Tis a tough one isn’t it?
One minute Todd is speaking with pride about Leo’s involvement with the WWF (not wrestling) and Earth Hour. Plus ‘Love your Forests’. All associated with environment, sustainable living and ‘goodness’.
However, draw back the layers and move the funky tee shirts to one side and what you really have is an egotistical, corporate suit. Plain and simple.
You clearly don’t know him. He’s a really good guy even though he works in an often questionable industry.
Anyone who uses their creative smarts to help peddle tobacco to kids does not deserve to be admired. I’m really disappointed. Todd, your “brand” will never recover in my eyes Up until now, I’d regarded Todd as a cool, caring, sane and respectable individual. There’s no motive for helping tobacco companies make their death-sticks appeal to the community other than Greed Greed Greed – coupled with a lack of empathy In your own T-Shirted, groovy way, you’re contributing to the destruction of health in our community, and the subsequent costs to us all.
Tough +1
you see, Jacqueline, the type of uninformed pinko nonsense you spout there is what we need to get away from.
it is impossible to ‘peddle tobacco to kids’ in Australia, unless you are an idiotic shopkeeper. pretty much the only ‘advertising’ that tobacco companies can do are trade focused, now that even design is outlawed here.
that is not ‘helping tobacco companies make their death sticks appeal to the communities’, it is helping tobacco companies improve the share of their products that a tobacco retailer sells vs another company’s tobacco products.
it is absolutely fine to disagree with an agency or individual representing tobacco companies in any way but spouting idealistic claptrap as if you’re a year 9 student on the debating team gets the argument nowhere
If you don’t like cigarettes, don’t smoke them.
If you don’t like Todd, don’t hire him.
People should stop fucking whingeing, be better, work harder and smile more.
So a advertising guy presents himself as a saint whilst taking money in buckets from any industry that is prepared to cash up? this IS big news. I make no judgement on people making a quid from advertising but struggle enormously with those who present themselves as something that they are clearly not.
Well what would you expect from someone calling himself the Malboro Cowboy? That’s the oldest excuse in the toxin-peddler’s book: “We’re not contributing tot the problem, we’re just altering market share.” Bullshit. I’m no pinko, just a person who cares about health and ethics. Not concepts you’d care much about, Malboro mite.
fyi, I’ve never worked on tobacco and never would albeit I did work for an ad agency that had a global tobacco client. I just like breaking down and debunking transparent arguments.
let’s do facts Jacqueline.
what are LB Melbourne and therefore Todd doing to peddle tobacco to kids? and how are they making cancer stick attractive to the community?
ie, what do the rules of this country allow tobacco advertisers to do outside of trade focused promotions
or do you just want nobody to work with anything to do with tobacco sales? So..nobody can work at any supermarket, convenience store, petrol station or pub without compromising their (your) ethics?
To whomever linked to my POV on this issue above – thank you.
To the rest of you, I’m betting 90% of you are FUCKING HYPOCRITES.
You’ll work on booze while wagging your fingers and piously decrying those who work on tobacco.
Well guess what: Alcohol is the MOST harmful drug there is. Way worse than tobacco. Case closed.
So unless you’ve never worked on booze, and would never work on booze… LEAVE. TODD. ALONE. (Britney reference.)
For the record I’ve never worked for Sampson. I just can’t stand the hypocrisy in this industry over this issue.
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@ Tom Donald
You raise a very good point there Tom. The WWF should look long and hard at LB and the fact that they work with Phillip Morris and decide if they can work with an agency that is more aligned with their values.
Many faceless corporates want to show off their pro-bono’s, well, with that being the case and again with your suggestion above: WWF, move agencies!!
“We will be starting earth hour in 5 mins, after our smoko…”
Don’t mean to beat a dead horse… but you’ll never see numbers like this in relation to tobacco (which I don’t smoke, for the record).
http://www.theguardian.com/aus.....nce-report
The only “moral” ad agency has no booze clients. In other words, if you’re obsessed with morality get the **** out of Adland. You’re only fooling yourself.
@Tom That is very defeatist.
Could the possibility that tobacco is not as bad as alcohol be because tobacco advertising (in Western nations) is banned?
Marketing alcohol to kids. That is awful and will be next.
Apples and oranges in your argument sir, I hope you are not responsible for statistics at your firm.
I’ll try this without the name calling as Mumbo seems to be moderating my reply:
Hey Driven, you nameless anonymous m****.
The stats re: booze being worse than tobacco at both the personal and population level are as robust as they come.
Further, that you assume they’re impacted by usage/consumption shows I can run rings around you when it comes to stats.
Con Frantzeskos – “people should stop fucking whingeing, be better, work harder and smile more.” Jesus, what Hollywood B-movie did you borrow that from?
@Tom
Tobacco advertising has been banned for zonks. Apples and oranges. I post anonymous sir because I do not feel the need to ruffle my feathers; try to boost my ego. Gooday.
Balls.
Anonymity destroys community.
Anonymity on industry blogs is dragging us all into the sewer.
Cowardice is the only motivation for anonymity.
I dunno, Tom. You seem to be the only one here using or implying sewer-grade language.
Lighten the load a bit here fellas …
https://www.facebook.com/MktgFutures/photos/a.326664640727006.76259.132277870165685/858991207494344/
🙂
@Tom
To be fair, respect to you sir for being open and honest.
You have enticed me to brush up my knowledge on the whole tobacco/ alcohol debate and as a result I am far more conscious now.
I didn’t realise how many ‘surveys’ and stats are freely available in the public domain, which have been commissioned by tobacco companies themselves? Wowsers. I am going to read all about tobacco lobbyists this too this weekend. Who they are, where they work, what boards they sit on and how they lobby away today.
I am also going to try and find an independent answer to the following question:
What is worse for ones health:
– 1 x cigarette or 1 x standard alcoholic drink.
Watch this space and please do not take us ‘anonymous’ people too seriously.
I wish to encourage smoking, going out without sunscreeen, swimming immediately after eating… or anything that might lead toward death of oneself without harming others.
Jeebus, we are looking like living on average past 100 years in the near future, we cant sustain so many people living so long.
The next big industry should be how to kill people.