We hear a certain agency is uber paranoid about tips that have popped up here on AgencySpy. Apparently, we're more credibler than we thought. The rumor is that this agency has hired investigators of a private nature to track down who is feeding us tips.

Smells like the McCarthy Era. But worry not, comrades, our anonymous tips box shall forever remain...anonymous. As you can guess, the purpose of said "investigation" is to purge the company of the spies. Little do they know that AgencySpy is so deep within the agency world, that we may even have the investigators in our pocket. For sure, we've got ears in the walls, and they like to speak.

We're currently sitting back while this already spiraling shop continues to implode upon itself. Thanks again, to all our spies.

Our friend Paco was kind enough to share the poster below with us. It's for Stampede Light beer, a brew that's 15 percent owned by the Christian-singer-gone-popstar-gone-tv/mediamaven-gone-crappy-country-hack Jessica Simpson. Phew.

According to the AP, Simpson has also signed a deal that makes her the beer's spokeswhore. But if she's a 15 percent owner, doesn't that mean she's paying 15 percent of her own salary? We'll never know, since details of the deal weren't made public.

However, Simpson's left breast was, as can be seen in the poster. The beer, which is being marketed to "active" imbibers, is brewed by Dallas based Stampede Brewing Co. Maybe now Simpson can finally be a real cowgirl? No, no she can't.

Source.

We hear that if you're not young and hip, you aren't long for the OMD world. At least one person within the agency believes that OMD is clearing out people aged around 50 years.

In an economy where young people are cheaper to pay for, age discrimination toward those who warrant higher pay (plus benefits) has been an issue for more than a few companies. This rumor likely comes from a disgruntled ex-OMDer. Check out the other recent stories on this issue.

The first is about a 63 year-old woman in Michigan who claims she didn't get a job with American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) due to her age. The second refers to talent agency ICM, which was accused by 150 television writers of the same. An LA Times report today said the agency settled.

"The agency and insurers agreed to put $4.5 million into a settlement fund against which eligible writers would be able to make claims. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the agency also agreed to establish an independent task force to examine its representation practices."

We're told Detroit based Campbell Ewald will be unloading a number of higher-up employees by the end of this week. We don't have the details on which departments they're coming from.

You'll recall our scoop last week, when we reported that 20 employees went home without a job to come back to.

Among last week's fallen soldiers were CE's information architects and the user experience group, including VP Darin Swan, Tim Suliman, and Joe Hass. Brace for impact.

A very similar picture to the one of the Spanish basketball team has surfaced of the Argentine womens football team "impersonating" Chinese people but this time it's while wearing the name of a sponsor. The team is wearing their Coca Cola jersies. According to a Brand Republic article, the picture was first published on August 5 in the Argentine sports newspaper Ole and was taken a week before the Spanish ad. Seriously? How is Coke gonna deal with this one?

I read an article in the NY Times that talks about how the Olympics is a great time to market to women consumers. It is arguably the one time that most women are engaged in watching sports. According to the article research done by NBC Universal showed that thus far 49% of the viewers of the Olympic coverage on NBC were women ages 18 and older. That quite a large number and the reason why there are so many ads for beauty products, presription drugs for women and home care products. The article goes into detail about why marketers feel like the Olympics is a good time to bump up their efforts with women. I've certainly noticed the increased efforts to reach out to the female demographics during the commercial breaks of the Olympic games. Have you?

We have an idea: AgencySpy t-shirts. The execution goes a little something like this; there's an arrow pointing up, and the copy on the front reads, "I was an Agency Spy." On the back, it says, "But then someone took my drink."

On that note, AgencySpy might be having a party in the near future. We're thinking of Chelsea Brewery for the venue (see the poll below for other options), since we love beer and don't leave the island. Or maybe we'll do Merchant's, since they have a cigar bar downstairs. Um, why don't we make this easy, and you tell us.

The shindig will be on a convenient weekday, starting around 7ish and ending with awkward conversation and falafel. The first round is on...you.

But hell, it's 2:45 a.m., and anything is possible. So tell us where you'd like to go. We promise not to take notes. The venue probably won't have a "good" smell to it, but it will have plenty to drink. Here's hoping we don't make an ass of our(lightweight)selves.

Note: we don't do Jersey (although we have seen it on a map). Tell us where you'd like to come hang out, and if none of the given options suit you, send us an e-mail/IM/Tweet, and we'll consider your opinions...like your clients consider your best creative.

A tipster asked why we don't have Seiter & Miller on our list? Well, it's true that their client list is solid. But they haven't had any exciting new business wins or any especially interesting campaigns that I know of. And there agency has been quiet as far as I can see. Their website boasts that they only have an A team working for their clients. What exciting things should we know about that "A Team"?

We received two tips that Rapp Collins has let lots of employees go today. One tipster sited the reasons as "poor mismanagement of freelancers and 2 clients who didnt pay". Rapp Collins is an agency that's always kind of flown under the radar for me, so I'm not sure what could be the real reason for the layoffs and how may have been let go. There client list is fairly extensive though, so I can't imagine two clients not paying causing that much financial strain. What's the real deal?

thespywriter@gmail.com

Whew! What a week it's been, and it's only Tuesday. We just wanted to take a moment to say cheers to everyone that's been sending in such great tips lately.

You've been giving us more than ever before, making the blog that much better. We want to remind you that we like good news too, so keep sending us your "here's what we've done at x agency" tips.

Before you head off for the day, take a moment to reflect on your awesomeness, and the probability that in just a few hours you'll be back on your couch to catch the finals in women's gymnastics.

Oh, and if you haven't seen your tips up, either they were bunk or we're still tracking the details down. Peas!

According to Brand Republic, the creator of 'Family Guy', Seth McFarlane will create ads for Burger King. The ads will be airing before his new video clip show 'Calvacade of Comedy'. The videos will be distributed only through Google. McFarlane will create three ads that will run before his show. My fingers are crossed that one of the ads will feature Stewie kicking the crap out of the Burger King Mascot.

Directed by Jamie Caliri of Barrie D'Rozario Murphy, this United piece is the latest from a campaign that launched during the Olympics.

Unlike most of the campaigns that have been released during the '08 Olympics, "Heart" (and "Sea Orchestra") stay focused on the client, the subject and the story, without hacking American athletes. These pieces are mesmerizing, and will hopefully make you happy.

Barrie D'Rozario Murphy is a start-up Minneapolis shop. As for their United work, we say well done, chaps. "Heart" and "Sea Orchestra" (shown below) are two of five pieces in the "Time to Fly" campaign. "Heart" is below, and "Sea Orchestra" can be found after the jump.

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Is it too early to start drinking? Like I need to ask you people. If this were 1962, you'd all be well into your second Scotchy Scotch-Scotch, and half way through your first pack of Luckies. But maybe I've been watching too much MadMen.

I ask the aforementioned question because the stupid sh*t we're told about Avenue A|Razorfish keeps getting...stupider. For today, stupider is a word.

More on the drama, after the jump.

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As if! We all know Draft doesn't have a soul...But there is a teenie-tiny bit of good news for the Chicago agency, depending on how you look at it.

DraftFCB has hired Dan "Ziggy" Zigulich to fill the executive vice president, director of creative production services position. In that role, he'll be responsible for leading all of the broadcast production, print production and studio efforts, reporting to Chief Creative Officer Rob Sherlock, and working closely with Executive Creative Director Kathy Bucaro-Zobens.

Ziggy spent 17 years at DFCB-Chi before leaving in 1998 to start Z Group Films and later, a Hispanic version called El Grupo Zeta. But um, neither of the Web sites associated with Z Group or Grupo Zeta currently function, leading us to believe that neither did their respective companies...do they no longer exist. That would explain Ziggy's return.

So this hire would suggest some chances are under way in the production department, which is already pretty beefy. Ziggy officially began his stay with DFCBChi on August 4, but the PR folks decided to tell us just now.

Although we thought Enfatico was put to bed for the time being, we learned today who is behind its much-more-fun doppelganger, Enfartico DOT com, and why the Web site no longer exists.

Your Monday night may be dominated by track and field and gymnastics (go Nastia!), but we're here to keep the ever-ridiculouser Enfatico details coming (yeah, we had to make up a word and hyphenate it to describe this situation). It's worth a click.

More after the jump.

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