Spiller strikes again luring JWT creative directors Rob Beamish and Jim Ritchie to DDB Melbourne

Another awesome hire for Darren. Let's hope that the 'suit culture' of DDB Melbourne doesn't end up chewing them down and spitting them out like so many talented people before them.

So do I best of lucks. So do I.

Brilliant, talented and just plain awesome blokes. That's a serious loss for JWT.

Jim Ritchie was one of the best things that happened to JWT Melbourne. They and their clients will be absolutely spewing he's gone.

Congrats dudes.

What is this photo meant to convey about Rob and Jim?

Nothing but 100% macho, heterosexual "bring it on" brotherly solidarity. Thank god the bloke on the right is wearing a checked shirt, that saved it for both of them. Good luck at your new DDB jobs, gents!

I think it's great that DDB is making a diversity hire, and for these two to come out in a trade publication like this is pretty brave, especially given the misdirection with the grooming and the wardrobe, maybe the fitness.

Proud of you boys. It's Time.

I just want to know which one's the wife, I mean the writer?

Butch and Moondance

Jim Fitzrobbish and Rob Fitzjimmie

Great hire. Rutting for you.

@@Curious

Confused as to why "thank god the bloke on the right is wearing a checked shirt" and how that "saved it for both of them"?

What are you saying exactly?

Because it says "lumberjack", @@Curious. So that's OK. Now, if he'd have thrown on a cowboy hat, that would have swung it the other way completely, errrrr, quite literally.

This is a man's world.

@@@@Curious

Rubbish. No self-respecting lumberjack would be caught dead in those shoes.

I concede my fashion faux pas.

Even worse, I'm waiting outside the client's office for a pitch preso wearing nothing but a construction hard hat and pink jockstrap, and nobody wants to hold my hand *sob*.

Lots of movement in Melbourne at the moment.
Anyone at Ogilvy want to comment?

could've been a little more gracious with that quote for the press release. "When the opportunity arose to go to an agency like DDB and work with a talent like Darren we didn't think twice"... that has to hurt at the JWT end.

Taking the piss with the gay community as your calling card to a new job.

Interesting approach. Let's see how it goes over.

So far nothing but more gay jokes from the blog.

Ad men uncomfortable with their sexuality? Given the number of beer and alcohol spots that claim real men for their customers, and attack anything that might look like effeminate behaviour ("ain't no Nancy drink", rollerblading a no-no, having a fashion sense that goes beyond jeans and T-shirts subject to questioning at the border) it seems the phobia is running hot and heavy in Oz.

Look out boys, your inner man could switch teams at any moment. Better grab a rugby ball and scrum up with the staff at lunch. Wouldn't want anybody to get the wrong idea.

LONG LIVE R.I.M.J.O.B

@yes

You mean J.I.M.R.O.B., no?

@ Anna Gram

Rimjob. Look it up.

@I'm guessing it was intentional, given the photo

You're right.

I typed Rimjob in Google, just like you suggested, and this same picture of Jim and Rob holding hands was at the top of the page rank.

@ Testosterosa

Lighten up barge arse.

@ADDenizen

Are you a Denizen of the night, AD? Then tighten up, AD, tighten up, and you can board my barge anytime.

Sounds like @Testosterosa is the real one in need of some sort of J.O.B

@ Knickers, and a few others on this thread

I's say that Testosterosa is spot on. Truthfully, making fun of homosexuality isn't that funny.

It's done far too much in blokey Aussie advertising, and I suspect that Jim and Rob's photo is meant to poke fun at loving male relationships yet again.

It's a tired bit really, and it says far more about the heterosexual males engaged in their adolescent conduct than it does about gay men, that and the fact that it adds to the public perception that homosexuals are somehow less human, which of course perpetuates the violence against them we see perpetrated over and over again by the ignorant in our society.

Unless Jim and Rob were to make clear that their photo is an unqualified statement in support of gay rights, and not a piss take as it would appear, then I'd say their little stunt is pretty ordinary, and not something that their new employers at DDB should be promoting.

So what @testosterosa is saying here is that men can't hold hands unless they've made a public statement previously to contextualise that hand-holding.

@Balls

You're as big a couple of weighted bags as your name implies if you think that two guys holding hands for their portrait PRing their move as CDs to a new agency isn't intended to be provocative, and to make an allusion, one they no doubt thought was comedic, to a gay relationship and their partnership.

If they're not taking the piss with homosexuality, and it's pretty clear to anyone who thinks with a brain instead of their sack that this photo does just that, then say so, otherwise play the Balls game of hide and seek and being clever at having it both ways.

If they only had the balls.

Come now, you're takin this all far too seriously.

It's just a funny PR shot. Not meant to mean anything. It's a laugh. And it's so much better than the stock standard folded arms pose.

No one's having a go at gay rights, gay pride or gay sex.

Please lighten up.

Agree with @testicles I think they are just embracing the bromance. How does a photo like that not make you smile. Come on guys - we are all better than this!

@@testicles (Jim, Rob, whomever)

Oh right, it's just an alternate pose to the 'stock standard folded arms', only a laugh, not meant to have a go at anybody, and certainly not the gays, a funny PR shot is all.

Balls. Why is it so funny then, if not to allude to a 'close' relationship between the pair, and how knee slapping humorous that is, eh? Two straight guys holding hands, interlocked fingers no less, and photographed to look like a couple.

Why not do it in tribal gear, or black face, maybe as cross dressers? You guys are creatives, so come up with something creative, but this time something that isn't offensive to a minority segment of the population, and one you're going to have to work with in your dream job over there at DDB with Darren.

Imagine how all those people you've offended with your decidedly average smirk of a PR shot are going to feel about working with the two of you from here on in, the clients, the suits, the planners, the actors on tvcs, yes even some directors.

Imagine, and then tell all of them to "please lighten up."

Own up, boys, because the apologias so far are pretty transparent and extremely lame.

jesus - all this over some handholding - get a grip

:)

i some major trolling going on here, vestra culpa is on the major wind up. stop biting

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Two creatives who are PRing their new roles at an agency decide to post a provocative photo of themselves holding hands and looking like partners in every sense of the word, an obvious take on male love and homosexuality, but given that they are both heterosexuals, also a piss take on gay love.

Maybe they thought in their circle of friends that this was funny, certainly in Australia where gay jokes are used on a regular basis to sell products and the general male populace sees itself through a very blokey lens this is probably common place, but it seems only fitting that if they're going to put this kind of image out there, they should be capable of taking whatever heat may come their way as well, and coming to grips with their own homophobia.

Off topic? Extraneous? Can't see how. In fact it may be the only serious undertaking on this blog all day.

I see two guys showing solidarity. Anything anyone else reads, is their problem, not Messrs Beamish & Ritchie's problem. So deal with your problem, and leave them out of it.

"They offended nobody."

Don't you love it when someone comes on all sage and speaks for everyone?

It's in the mind of the beholder, the viewer's problem and not that of the people who offered up the provocative image? Bullshit.

They wanted to provoke, and they did. Maybe they underestimated how many people would fail to see the humour in their little gay joke.

Now it's their problem, whether TON, their personal apologist, likes it or not, and by the way, all of those who've expressed some degree of displeasure here are dealing with it, loudly and clearly.

What's with the 'solidarity' rap? That's the third or fourth time it's popped up, like the social media monitor for DDB is working overtime on this.

This ain't Poland.

In India men hold hands all the time. Maybe they are mocking Indians.

Really? Really? Is this conversation actually happening? It's a PR shot. That's all. No hidden meaning. No dig at anyone. No malice. No protest. Just a fucking PR shot. You people make me hate advertising. And when i say 'you people' please dont think i've got a hidden meaning, or am having a dig with malice or protesting. Just a fucking comment. Lighten up fuckers.

C'mon guys, get a grip.

@FFS

'(These) people' make you hate advertising? Really? Oh my that is serious. You like to use the word fuck allot, as a noun, an adjective, just a fucking PR shot, just a fucking comment.

Well you may be just a fucking moron if you actually believe that there was no subtext to the photo that Rob and Jim posted of themselves.

More importantly, advertising should hate you, because you clearly have no clue about the power of a photograph, how to create one to make a specific statement, and how to read one created by someone else in order to understand what they're trying to convey, or even the ambiguity that they've injecting into what may to a rank amateur like yourself appear to be 'just a fucking' anything.

@Gay guy

If you were, I doubt that this issue would be so easy to ignore, or that you'd use the line, "c'mon guys, get a grip" when faced with homophobia, no matter how subtle.

Jesus Christ, what an absolute load of rubbish. Staggering the amount of shit that people can create out of nothing. Congrats Jim and Rob. Top guys. Good move. Funny photo.

Well done Bored, that summed it up..."congrats Jim and Rob. Top guys. Good move. Funny photo."

Nuff said.

are you kidding me?
This is why people take the piss out of the people who work in this industry.
What a waste of supposedly intelligent peoples time.
go write some ads for .... sake.

I'm as gay as Christmas and not offended at all.
Hold hands and hold your ground gentlemen. Well done on the new gig.

@Man Queen, Bored, You Said it, and all the apologists in our little 'phobic corner of the world

Only someone from the straight world would use the term 'as gay as Christmas'.

Interlocking fingers? Could have been a poster for gay marriage. Google gay men holding hands and you'll see the pose over and over again. Gay and proud and in love.

These boys knew exactly how this photo would be read. They're professionals in the ad business, and they thought that it would be a funny joke to pose as gay partners, or at least to suggest the possibility and create an ambiguity with their partnership . . . just for fun though, not really, only a laugh, because they're definitely not gay, never had such a thought in their lives, really, they're all man, er, men.

The only people who think this is a funny photo are those who think exactly like they seem to, the majority of Australian men sadly, and excuse us, the minority, both straight and gay, but your prejudices are showing, and your lack of sensitivity, and probably your intelligence in this age, right along with that smirk at the homosexual world.

Go write another ad that makes fun of gay people and champions 'real men', and wonder who's responsible when another kid is bashed for his sexual preferences.

Write it off in any fashion you wish, pretend that it wasn't an intentional reference (and if it wasn't then these guys are the most unconscious and visually impaired CDs we've ever seen and should probably be kept clear of any campaign that uses images).

Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt.

@?said
For the record, this is not why people take the piss out of people who work in this industry. It's the unfortunate majority of the work we make, because of too many of the people who work in this industry. Look around.

@Cairo, Beamish and Ritchie are not taking the piss out of the gay community. If anything, your entirely misplaced agenda (spoken via multiple pseudonyms), is doing more harm to the issue of gay rights, than their PR shot is! Get the chip off your should and get off the blog.

To the one lonely ranter with a variety of pseudonyms: your 10 paragraph entries are a giveaway. Stop this verbal diarrhoea. It's a damn shame you're not using all of that energy on a real issue instead of one that you have actually created yourself.

No strong opinion about this photo one way or the other, but those defending Beamish and Ritchie just want the people who object to just shut up, lighten up, get a grip, and get off the blog.

There's got to be more intelligent comment than that, no?

Whatever you think of the photo, seems like the subject of how gays are portrayed in advertising is a pretty good one for this blog, for this industry. At least it's a step up from lamburger.

@man queen
@cairo

Gay as Christmas? GAY AS CHRISTMAS?! You fucking slag Man Queen. And who the fuck do you think you are Cairo posting a comment on a comment on Christmas? As if either of you understand anything about Christmas ...

Christmas is the joyous celebration of the holy birthday of the vernix-covered baby Jesus, miraculously born of the blessed virgin Mary in ancient durum wheat straw, in a termite-riddled manger in the middle east as snow fell etc. etc.

@ Ref

A step up from lamburger? A STEP UP FROM LAMBURGER!? You fucking slag Ref. How dare you? I'll have you know industrial farming of suckling lambs with barely a day's wool on them is not an issue to gloss over ... etc etc ...

@AD Denizen

Go ahead, have another line, AD. You're clearly not there yet.

...you're insane. I like that.

Apologies and love to all, I'm only recently off my Lovan.