Articles from Adweek news

NBC is putting an end to all the post-Olympics monkey business. Two years after making viewers go ape by interrupting the closing ceremony of the London Games with a preview of the simian sitcom Animal Practice, the broadcaster is taking a much more cautious approach in Sochi. The plan for next Sunday’s prime-time broadcast is to air two hours of edited curtain-closing footage, followed by the commercial-free premiere of Growing Up Fisher. The single-camera effort stars J.K.

The road most connected toy lines have traveled is ... well, let’s just say it’s paved with good intentions. A sampling of valiant efforts: Take Teddy Ruxpin. In 1985, a company called Worlds of Wonder introduced a teddy bear who told stories from recorded audio tapes while moving his eyes and mouth. It was a runaway hit that holiday season. Nine months later, Smith Barney and Dean Witter co-managed WoW’s IPO. Not quite a year after that, the company bought $92 million worth of debt against the 1987 holiday season.

For the second time in as many years, TBWA is recasting at the top of the creative department of its largest office, according to sources. David Kolbusz, a partner and deputy executive creative director of Bartle Bogle Hegarty in London, is in advanced talks to share the top creative role at TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa del Rey, Calif., sources said. Plans call for him to partner with Stephen Butler, one of the office's three ecds.

Back in the day, the hot creative team at Fallon (and later, Mother) was an inseparable duo known simply as the Swedes. Well, now barrettSF has the Brads. Brad Kayal and Brad Phifer, a creative team at Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco, have joined barrettSF as senior art director and senior copywriter, respectively. At their new agency, Kayal and Phifer will work on existing accounts like YP and Pac-12 Networks and contribute to new business pitches.