Happy 40th birthday to Carl Johnson, chairman of TBWA GGT Simons
Palmer, who took off to Babbington House last week to celebrate with his
friends and family, and was then ambushed by his agency when he got back
to the office. TBWA wanted to wish him a happy birthday and could think
of no better way than to humiliate him. Ellis Watson, marketing director
at News International, quickly volunteered to sponsor an Advan, which
the agency then emblazoned with a picture of Johnson taken in the early
80s, complete with trendy moustache. To embarrass the poor man further,
they superimposed the head on to a naked body, only covering his
privates with an ’I am 40’ badge.
Sadly, we can’t bring you Johnson’s reaction when he spotted the van, as
this is a family paper. We can, however, say that he saw the funny side
eventually. To top it all, when he later went to the TBWA bar, the
entire agency were waiting to welcome him, sporting fake moustache’s and
t-shirts with his picture on.
