Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year

1 WPP beats rivals to win $600m global HSBC account

Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 12-05-2004

NEW YORK - HSBC has appointed a group of WPP Group agencies to handle its $600m global advertising and marketing business after a pitch against rivals Interpublic Group and Omnicom.

2 GM pulls off coup as Oprah gives away almost 300 cars

Staff, Brand Republic 14-09-2004

LONDON - General Motors pulled off a product placement coup in the US, when chatshow host Oprah Winfrey gave away nearly 300 of the manufacturer's new Pontiac G6 model during the first programme of her new season.

3 MindShare wins £680m Unilever pan-European account

Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 05-11-2004

LONDON - MindShare has won Unilever's £680m pan-European media buying account, following a lengthy pitch process that also involved the incumbent Initiative and Carat.

4 BBC World lines up Michael Moore for election coverage

Staff, Campaign 25-10-2004

LONDON - BBC World, the BBC's global commercial service, has unveiled details of its US election coverage, with controversial US film-maker Michael Moore taking part in 'Question Time'.

5 Lace out as Grey London forms new management team

Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 15-03-2004

LONDON - For once the speculation has proved correct and Garry Lace, the chief executive of Grey London, has left the agency after becoming embroiled in rumours that he planned a secret business venture to launch his own loyalty scheme.

6 Calls for Elle Macpherson Intimates TV ad to be banned

Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 13-09-2004

LONDON - A woman whose daughter was murdered has called for the new advertising campaign for Elle Macpherson Intimates, which shows a woman wearing underwear while holding a deadly knife, to be banned.

7 Camera-shy Ozzy rules out a return to reality television

Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 19-11-2004

LONDON - Ozzy Osbourne has said his family will not return for another series of reality TV show 'The Osbournes' because he has had enough of the filming.

8 Arab journalist killed by US fire during Baghdad report

Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 13-09-2004

LONDON - A TV journalist for Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya was shot dead by US troops as he filmed a report in Baghdad, as the Iraqi capital erupted into violence yesterday killing at least 45.

9 MPs call for Mirror editor to quit if pictures proved fake

Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 05-05-2004

LONDON - MPs called for Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan to resign if photographs appearing to show Iraqis being tortured by British troops turn out to be fakes.

10 Absolut hunk sues spirit maker over use of spoof ad

Staff, Brand Republic 04-06-2004

NEW YORK - The actor who featured as the 'Absolut Hunk' in 'Sex and the City' is suing the spirit makers for using the fictional poster as an advertisement in real life

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