Sampson caught in ‘conflict of interest’ storm
April 20 2009, 7:48 am | | 51 Comments
The ABC has been forced to defend its hit show on advertising, The Gruen Transfer, after a potential conflict of interest by one of its star panellists, Todd Sampson, according to a report by Julian Lee in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.
51 Comments
‘Burnetts had the account for two years whilst he held a senior position’ and he denies any knowledge of ASCA…. if that’s correct then do me a favour, as Head of Planning in a relatively small Agency one would thought he would know everything that was going on.
I thought the ad missed the mark incredibly – doesn’t have to be a conflict of interest to point out the mistakes!
Storm in a teacup.
Clients come and go.
ASCA wouldn’t have been a paying client. Leos were scoring at awards shows with other clients.
The creative for the most recent campaign relied heavily on shock tactics more than a smart strategy.
It’s not about the ad,it’s about his lack of disclosure. BTW, if you Google Todd Sampsom leo Burnett, there’s a press release from Burnetts themselves stating the he joined the Agency in 2002 not 2003 as previously stated.
How about today, instead of engaging in the usual vitriol, we all have a day off.
And think about Liz, Sasha, Cooper and Audrey.
Dee.
Vitriol is fun.
And who are Liz etc?
Dee, shouldn’t you declare any possible conflict of interest re your former relationship with the author of the ad, ie: Doddsy?
It’s a panel show about advertising. Who gives a fuck?
Abusers who are they ?
DO ABUSERS LOVE THEIR CHILDREN??? YES THEY DO !!!
(well mostly ).
We the Australian community are abusing one in three girls & one in six boys . so either we live in a world of psycho’s …OR
Abusers don’t recognize them selves as such!
I’m not an advertiser
I’m a survivor of severe child sexual & emotional abuse
I saw the ad and it didn’t effect me at all.
The ad was lame.
I didn’t see myself or my father or anything I could relate to in it.
Not even my abuser(s) would relate themselves to that stereo typed image either, that’s why it misses the mark.
I wasn’t offended just disappointed and yet again disenfranchised from my own community. I’m not a Barbie doll; I’ve never married (surprise)
I’m not a drug addict (ref 2nd ad)
Nobody would know that I was abused at all unless I tell them. Just like a lot of survivors out there watching this debate, But I do live with hell inside.
I’m fractured in a thousand pieces. Todd was right when he said its like
“MURDER, JUST YOUR BODY IS STILL ALIVE”
Before making another ad know that..
Abusers generally don’t believe what they do harm’s their victim.
They are also not very conscious in the space in which they abuse,
where as abusers may be very aware in other areas of their lives,
Such as careers, friendship, community, and are often well respected.
This distance from actions and experiences is called ‘disassociation’, and is a very important mental process to understand for both abuser & survivors (& advertisers).
Its a coping mechanism where the mind removes the persons sense of self from a memory, experience, or an action.
Also, most survivors never tell their story because they are still IN or connected to their original family units. Because of this remaining contact abusers are rarely confronted within there families , and even when they are families would usually not wish to believe the survivor because of stigma and lack of known options and protocol to deal with such an unknown topic within their family of origin, such is the mystery & shame surrounding abuse
A whole new image of abuse must be created to effectively target abusers & survivors ( not both at once) and find the pathways of help by UN-STIGMATISING the subject!
P.S and who really gives a rats arse about Todd’s apparent non disclosure?
The conjecture really just serves as a smoke screen over the important things he did say about THE TOPIC!
Which nobody seems to mention here…?
He wasn’t aware at the time of the show filming.
HMMMMM Advertising …People who portray women’s beauty as only found the eternally pubescent stages of life .. Can we see a connection with abuse issues and the disenfranchised image of a normal average aged & looking women? HMMMM , I can
At last I’ve got on to the CB Blog. This story is bigger than Earth Hour, no wonder the CB Blog was off air most of this morning, the server must have crashed with all the Fairfax readers clicking on the CB Blog link. Checking the Fairfax site, its number 2 most read on theage.com.au, number 4 on smh.com.au and number 3 on WA Today.
Are Sydney Morning Herald one of Whybins clients?
Just wait till the find out Earth Hour was a client’s idea.
Someone said a while ago: “The Todd Sampson PR season has begun!”
Too true and Leo’s are used to it now for these couple of months.
Good integrated campaign Mr Sampson.
Hi 1.06
(I wasn’t actually the 9.06 Dee- there appears to be more than one of us).
The reason I did not declare my conflict of interest (re: my past relationship with the very talented Doddsy) is because I wasn’t actually on the panel that discussed the ad.
Nor have I ever commented on it here.
And to 12.07, Liz is an amazingly beautiful, strong woman who is losing her brief but hardfought battle against cancer, leaving two very, very small kids.
It kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
Dee Madigan
ps
On the last show I commented on a Rexona ad.
7 years ago I worked on the Rexona account.
Is this a conflict of interest? Hardly.
Current clients present a conflict of interest that requires disclosure, past ones don’t.
Dee Madigan
must be a slow news week. Why is it when someone has an opinion against the grain it causes the media to crazy these days SO annoying!
Hi storm,
As an abuse victim, do you have any direct experience with ASCA? Should you declare any conflict of interest here?
(I believe ASCA heavily supports notions of recovered memories of abuse being true – the organisation was formed to support adults who had recovered memories of abuse at a time when it was being discovered many such ‘memories’ were false).
The issue is really around whether or not the Gruen Show is a front for some of their presenters to pursue their own agendas in regards to the work being discussed.
Given the ‘acrimonious split’ I think he should have simply stated that his Agency used to work on ASCA,.That said , he’s as entitled as the next man or woman to his opinion. What is strange about all this are his constant denials that he never knew anything about ASCA…..didn’t the Burnetts ASCA campaign win at ATV? Are you seriously telling that in an industry that is obsessed about awards that he knew nothing about them?
It is simply not believable that Todd didn’t know his agency had the ASCA account.
He is using selective memory in an attempt to try and get himself out of a sticky situation.
Which is pretty ironic given how much he publicly makes of his perfect ethics.
Hi Storm
You’re on the wrong blog.
If you were ‘an advertiser’ you would know by now
that this blog is the last place for sympathy.
All the best.
Off topic slightly but must say…
re Storm’s comment –
“We the Australian community are abusing one in three girls & one in six boys . so either we live in a world of psycho’s …OR
Abusers don’t recognize them selves as such!”
There is another OR –
such statistics are wildly exagerated or perhaps the interpretation of the word ‘abuse’ is not made clear (some say that allowing a child to see an M rated TV show or smacking a child is ‘abuse’ for instance, but others might think ‘abuse’ means the kind of abuse people are convicted and imprisoned for).
I’m wary of your use of the term ‘disassociation’; as it is being bandied around a lot now that ‘recovered memories’ and multiple personality beliefs are being questioned.
Not sure if anyone has seen this or it has been posted already.
But the ad ripped off a scene in a film called “Festen”
a great movie from a member of the Dogma 95 group called Thomas Vinterberg.
here is the clip, watch it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imDBK1gW3gI
3:15 yes Sydney Morning Herald are the agency who currently do ASCA’s campaign’s client. No conflict of interest there, just news.
Just watched your clip 6.43….exposing the parents sins has been done before in films…even in Sixth Sense, not sexual , but abuse all the same….Surely the huge difference in The ASCA spot is the irony of family and friends and most importantly the victim laughing it off as if abuse is acceptable behaviour. In my book its totally different.
Whether or not Todd worked on the client in the past, which could hardly be called a conflict of interest being a charity (ie fuck loads of time for zero profit), what Todd said was very insightful, realistic and reflective of the rest of the panels views.
Seems the only abusers here are the perpetrators of such a particular ad.
7.57pm. How’s it going @Leo’s.
Too many people on this blog aren’t creatives. That’s the problem.
8:05. A fuckload better than churn & whyburns.
8.05 Since when do ‘creatives’ deserve/claim ownership of this blog? Why is it a problem if non creatives have a say?
It was also never disclosed that WWF came up with earth hour – not Leo’s.
Storm,
Great post. I think you (and Julie) have hit the nail on the head. There is a bigger discussion to be had here about the role of promotion/pr/advertising in this award obsessed industry. Mine, like most families, has been directly affected by abuse and I find the whole disclosure thing an absolute furfy. The suggestion (without any evidence) that Todd’s comments could somehow be motivated by ill-feelings toward the client is not only offensive in the extreme to him but also incredibly offensive to those that have been through hell and happen to agree with him. Play the ball, not the man.
CB, I made a comment to the WA site a couple of month’s ago about some work for the Red Cross from a position of someone who has been affected by abuse. I took exception to the agency using the issue as a ‘creative’ opportunity rather than creating something that would actually make a real difference. My comments where censored (ie never published) probably for fear of offending the creatives involved and the ‘clients’, but it is high time we started to discuss our industry’s ability to see real human tragedy as a chance to advance careers.
It may not have been the case in terms of the ASCA creative, but what is clear is that there would seem to have been a complete lack of depth in the thought that went into the campaign. Sorry, but is not enough to say that because we are discussing the advertising that this is reason enough for its existence. I hate to say this, but simple things like the slickness of the production on these ads and the casting just works to add a gloss to an issue that just doesn’t need it.
More thought for the complexity of the issues, less thinking about the reel.
8:05 – I think you need to call them “creatives” rather than creatives.
Hello 8.08…..ripped off anything other than Earth Hour lately?
um, don’t look now but I think issue of adults surving child abuse is on the national agenda now … maybe to the detriment of all involved in the advertisement but happy to see the issue finally get some oxygen.
That’s the real point here isn’t it guys??
Anyone who thinks it was on the agenda before is kidding themselves – have been tracking this topic for years.
Look, it is fairly obvious or highly likely Todd knew of the past association.
It seems pretty clear an agenda was pushed.
A spare of the moment thing or brain fart or whatever.
Personally, I like the campaign. Others don’t. However, at least the subject matter has gained awareness and discussion.
Advertising at the end of the day can’t solve the problem.
For Todd to come out and slag the campaign, is one thing, to do it with a real and historic bias, is another.
Sorry Todd, love you, respect you, but deep down you know the truth.
ps: I am an abuse survivor, and I don’t agree with the creative but I think something had to be done. It’s time to talk about this topic.
8:41, without causing any offence I’d like to know a real perspective from an abuse victim.
Not a PR release from whybull or fiASCA.
What did you honestly think of the ad? Don’t slag, just honest opinion.
I was considering going to TBWA Sydney. These past few days have convinced me to stay the hell away. What a bunch of nitwits.
8:12…creatives don’t ‘own’ this blog. That’s the problem.
Thanks for not coming 10.18, you’ve got to get back to school in a week next week anyway,
I’m not sure Whybins would hire anyone who uses the word ‘nitwits’. We prefer to think of ourselves as fuckwits with the occasional dimwit and the even rarer shitwit. We haven’t had nits here since the compulsory Lysol showers last year.
6.43.
The judges for the Sirens described the campaign as Festen-meets-The-Castle
How do you keep a Whybin employee up 24-7 attacking Todd Sampson?
Say you don’t like his ad.
iI smell pants on fire………..
Re comment 6.43 April 20.
Festen is a great movie/play, however if ASCA/the agency based their ad on the birthday speech they are so off the mark. In Festen it is the abused son who speaks up and accuses the father in front of friends and family – a brave move. The father admits to the accusation and shows his arrogance and cruelty with his response.
In the ad, the victim, the bride, laughs along with the crude father and doesn’t speak up. In other words the victim is shown as weak and stupid. This is why the ad is a complete insult to actual abuse victims.
Maybe ASCA was trying to say that victims of abuse feel laughed at by family and friends and their plight with regards to being a victim is dismissed. They feel they have to laugh along too in order to fit in. If this is what ASCA was trying to say, I wonder then at the background of those who supported this idea. Is it because their family and friends do not believe their allegations?
Perhaps there are good reasons why their accusations aren’t supported. Perhaps thinking has become a little distorted somewhere along the line in a bid to be believed.
The plight of those who believe they have been abused but who are not believed and so supported by family/friends (eg because accusations are made many years/decades after the alleged event and there is no supporting evidence) is a different plight to those who have been abused and are believed. I think this is where things went off track.
10.15
I am not entirely sure what your point is, but there is nothing that I can add that hasn’t been said here http://www.campaignbrief.com/2009/04/asca-vehemently-defends-child.html#comment-76911
I wish I could be so eloquent.
I don’t think 10:19 is a creative. Not clearly written prose.
10.57am
Doesn’t the ad explicitly state something along the lines of “If only it was this easy to get over child abuse”? This seems to suggest that the mise en scene that precedes this is fictional and therefore willfully irreal. The whole ad reminded me of the brilliant NSPCC cartoon boy stuff from the UK a few years ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V-zxWY3vsY . Only not quite as well resolved
Storm, thanks for your courage in sharing your past.
Peace
12:56 & 10:15 – refer also to 10:12 (the comment just before 10:15)
Not sure anyone is actually reading what others post – or just venting “at” people.
I am an abuse survivor and I have thought deeply about this topic for several years now so this is not a knee jerk reaction.
I don’t particularly like the creative execution in this TVC.
However, I think we all need to take a deep breath and understand the intention of everyone here who is genunine is a lot bigger than one TVC. The real issue is getting more awareness and therefore more support for these issues.
At least in my life and my experience, awareness breeds understanding and understanding breeds change.
But awareness must come first (with debate being a necessary part of that) and change takes time.
We are all at step one. Awareness and debate. If we are honest with ourselves national awareness around adults did not exist until this campaign broke onto the scene. lets continue the debate, but in a progressive way rather than getting sidetracked by personal attacks and competition.
8:01 – Right awareness breeds understanding.
Not my words, the Dalai Lama’s.