Image courtesy of SparkFunElectronics

As I mentioned last week, the mighty Crispin, Porter & Bogusky are no longer doing business with Burger King. The split seems to have been based on a mutual decision, although I personally thought that the new BK management team had been the major influence. But someone way closer to the situation, namely Alex Bogusky, had something to say about it on his Posterous blog. Here are some nuggets from the whole piece, which you can read here.

First, on the “split” with Miller Brewing:

“We resigned several accounts over the years but none bigger than Miller Brewing. And what a sh*t storm that was. The client was beyond angry, ballistic, and although we sent out a release explaining our decision they decided to claim they had fired us. Whatever. People are free to say whatever they need to, to keep their Board of Directors happy, I suppose.”

And then, on Burger King:

“My guess is that CPB decided it was time to part with BK. It might have been a mutual decision in the end but my hunch is that they had too much creative integrity to do the kind of work the new BK team was asking for. And I’m proud of them if that’s what went down.”

So, to sum up, it looks like Burger King is probably doing damage control after being told to pack their bags by CP&B. If this is the case, which is what Alex is hinting at, then that’s one hell of a brave decision. To give the old heave-ho to a client worth $300 million, in this dire economy, is unbelievable. Perhaps Burger King was asking for work that CP&B thought was inferior, or damaging to the BK brand. Perhaps it was even worse than that.

All I know is that I have been in very few agencies that fired clients, because money always comes first. It’s great to know that some agencies still care more about the work than the bookkeeper. I just hope no one had to be let go to support such a ballsy move.

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