What are we to make of Roche's new $93 per share offer for Genentech? BNET previously suggested that market conditions were so rough that Genentech holders should take the low-ball $86.50 offer that Roche made when it went hostile a few weeks ago. Looks like that was wrong! Roche chairman Franz Hume...

Bra manufacturer Vanity Fair has created an all-girl band who are contractually obligated to perform topless except for their bras, according to Ad Age. The Vassarettes (pictured) have only one song (see video below), but two YouTube videos and an elaborate web site. They sound a bit like the Donnas...

Valassis employees get a free lunch on their employer once a month, but hard times in the ad biz mean VP Mike Wood may be cooking those meals himself, according to KWCH, a Wichita news station. It has a cafeteria, exercise room, stock options, and flexible schedules for it's employees.  Once a mont...

American Apparel "almost went bankrupt" before Xmas according to internal emails allegedly stolen from CEO Dov Charney's porn-based advertising/clothing empire. Now the SEC is eyeing the company, according  to the New York Post, based on the emails. Back on Jan. 15, BNET noted that American Apparel...

The deal for the break up of Aegis and its absorption by Havas seems to be shaping up. According to Brand Republic, the Synovate market research unit of Aegis is being prepped for sale. (The bank doing the pimping is Merrill Lynch, according to MRWeb.) The remainder of Aegis, its media buying operat...

There were five seconds left in the World Elephant Polo Association’s amateur division championship in southern Nepal, and the New York Blue Elephant Polo Club was up 5-4 over the Tiger Tops Tuskers. It was a stifling Friday afternoon in December, and the New York Blue was moments away from becomi...

BBDO grabs two Pepsi accounts from JWT -- In India, agency will now handle 7UP as well as Quaker Oats. [Source: Business Standard] Australia's worst ads -- a tampon ad featuring a beaver and a Domino's pizza ad in which a character named Many Toppins uses the made-up term "Supercalafreakinawesom...

George Parker recently suggested that WPP was at risk of screwing up its debt obligations: "Reports out of Europe suggest that WPP could breach its debt covenants in the first half of next year if the ad environment continues to worsen," he said. The reason, Parker argued, is that the network is ove...