The advertising industry is usually on the receiving end of far more brickbats than plaudits. Those evil Mad Men. So Monkey felt a bit of a books balancer in the offing when media agency MEC punted over information on its “knead and feed” initiative.
Downing advertising weapons normally used to (allegedly) (a) make kids fat and (b) make Sir Martin Sorrell/Maurice Levy et al rich, 500 MEC staffers are setting out to feed 5,000 of London’s vulnerable people. The lucky staffers have eschewed the agency summer away day (in ad land that means getting smashed by 12pm on an expensive team cooking course) to head to rugby team Saracen’s home ground to prepare the food and do the work of the good.
Monkey is sure that “Moroccan tagine” and “rosemary focaccia” will go down a treat – what is this, The Ivy? Its deputy MD Paul Hutchison sums it all up, with a side order of cheese: “At MEC, we aren’t about mouse mats and behaviours written on the wall”. Eh? Er, well what are you about Paul, do go on. “We are about living and experiencing behaviours together”. Uh-huh, team unity and all that but Monkey bets he won’t be anywhere near the Everest-size mountain of washing up at the end.
