His company creates minority advertising for such companies as Pacific Bell and Southern California Gas Co. Muse's 10-person shop speaks to clients in five languages. Said Muse: "Half the time I walk through our office and have no idea what's being said."
Florida Tax Angers Ad Biz
It was supposed to be a week of fun in the Orlando sun. But suddenly, Florida's recently approved 5% state sales tax on services, including advertising, is hovering like a dark cloud over the American Advertising Federation's annual conference scheduled in two weeks.
The group considered pulling out of Florida in protest--in line with a recent decision by NBC to yank its 1988 affiliates meeting out of Orlando. "But we decided we'd accomplish more by going and displaying our outrage than by staying away," said Howard Bell, president of the association.
The group plans to begin organizing a statewide referendum that would bring the ad tax to a vote. And the theme of the conference has been changed from "the Magic of Creating Advertising," to "Stop the Ad Tax."
Competition Problems Brewing
The advertising agency that introduced Australian heartthrob Paul Hogan to the United States is about to find itself competing with him.
Mojo MDA, the ad firm that created Hogan's well-known spots for the Australian Tourist Commission, has landed the $4-million U.S. account for Swan Premium Lager. Hogan, meanwhile, has been featured in a recent campaign for Foster's Lager--one of Australia's best-selling brews.
How to go up against Hogan? "It'll be a tough row," said Wayne Kingston, president of Mojo MDA's U.S. operations. The agency has already signed an Australian television celebrity for Swan--but they're not yet saying who.
Spuds--A Terrier on the Way Up
Look out, California Raisin Advisory Board. Spuds Mackenzie is on your tail. In its quarterly survey of 7,000 television viewers, New York-based Video Storyboard Tests Inc. reported that for the first three months of 1987, the famed dancing raisin spots are--for the second consecutive quarter--ranked by viewers as the "most outstanding" commercials.
But during the period, Spuds, the bull terrier in the Bud Light ads, has leaped into the No. 4 spot after placing 10th in the previous survey. "Spuds is especially appealing to the young people," said Dave Vadehra, president of Video Storyboard. "He's spunky."
Anyway, It's a Good Place to Meet
Newport Beach is hardly the raisin capital of California. But the ad firm that created the immensely popular "Dancing Raisins" commercial--Chicago-based Foote, Cone & Belding Communications Inc.--brought its annual meeting Monday to the balmy resort city anyway.
Why meet thousands of miles from the company's headquarters? Explained a company spokesman: It's a way of saying "good job" to the agency's San Francisco office, which created the raisin ad for the California Raisin Advisory Board. So why not meet in San Francisco? Said the spokesman: "I haven't the foggiest."
