As they say, class will out…

I’m pleased to say that I’ve been hobnobbing it with the darlings of adland this week at the IPA’s annual lunch; look it’s tough work but someone’s got to keep you lot informed. Thing is, I wasn’t exactly invited so had to sneak it at the last moment, hoping no-one would question me.
So there I was scouring the palatial surroundings of the Savoy’s Lancaster Ballroom when I spotted an empty seat. Luckily, Chemistry Group’s Joe Garton was so busy counting his Publicis cash hand-out that he failed to show up, so I snuck in quick. And, with such an air of respectability, it’s easy to see why so many DM and digital guys are keen to sign up to the IPA.
Compare this to a recent DM awards ceremony at the Mansion House in Dublin, at which RMG Target chief Gary Brown attacked a judge, punching him five times in the face, leaving him bleeding.
At what must be one of the classiest events in recent times, a court heard that RMG Target had won the top prize at the event for the fourth consecutive year. In his victory speech Brown had said: “It’s great to see new faces coming in” which were “making great videos that make us laugh every year”.
Afterwards, judges John O’Connor and Justin Cullen asked to speak with Brown. They went to a corridor and both had the audacity to criticise the speech but, according to the court, they were told by Brown to “fuck off”.
The court had heard that O’Connor called Brown a “knacker” and he was then punched in the face by the accused. He fell and grabbed on to Brown and they went to the floor. Hmmmm nice one guys… And who says DM folk don’t know how to behave? Anyway, all is not lost as Brown has agreed to pay E20,000 to charity to escape a criminal conviction.
Of course, this is not the first time there has been a fight at a direct marketing bash; a few years back a similar thing happened at the DMA Awards in London, although I seem to remember no-one was having a pop at chairman of the judges and Krav Maga instructor Marc Nohr.
Not that adland hasn’t had its fair share if incidences, either. Back in the day, Kevin Morley Marketing’s 1994 pitch for the £6.5m Iceland account went slightly awry when the boyfriend of a disgruntled ex-KMM employee burst in and smashed agency chairman Kevin Morley in the face. One version has it that the assailant had also tried to ram Morley’s head through the boardroom table…
Still, I suppose even that shows that when people attack adland guys, they do it properly.
The thing is, I like people who work in adland, and I like people who work in DM, but which one is better? As Harry Hill would say: “FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGHHHHT!!”

(Got anything you’re dying to get off your chest? Email me, discretion guaranteed! ivan.idol@hotmail.co.uk)