Articles from AdWeek Advertising and branding

There's an ad blog called Creative Criminals, but here's the real thing—federal prison inmates who are trying their hand at copywriting and art directing thanks to a program called Concepting With Convicts, launched by two interns at DigitasLBi in San Francisco. Ben Pfutzenreuter and Pat Davis used prison pen-pal websites to contact the inmates and get them involved in the program. The inmates provide either the copywriting or the art direction on each ad.

Sometimes a little stupid is just right. Chips Ahoy delivers with a series of spots from The Martin Agency featuring an animated cookie prone to minor, entertaining mischief. The 30- and 15-second shorts get all the key details right—the pauses, and the simple but absurd expressions. It's a good play for the kids who'll clamor after the product. The moms who do the grocery shopping may not be so thrilled that the brand is egging on their little angels. Then again, who could stay mad at a face like that?

New York-based DiMassimo Goldstein made changes to its leadership team, naming Tom Christmann its new chief creative officer. He took the reigns from Mark DiMassimo, who served as the agency’s CCO since its inception in 1996. DiMassimo will continue to serve as the agency’s creative leader and chief executive officer. “We’ve grown each year for the last 10 years,” DiMassimo told Adweek. “We’ve doubled in size, we’ve gone from having a staff of 45 people to having 75.” DiMassimo cited this growth as the reason he handed the CCO responsibilities over to Christmann.

Four months after it began, the legal battle between GoldieBlox and the Beastie Boys appears to be winding down, as the band has agreed to drop its lawsuit against the toy maker over the unauthorized use of the song "Girls"—in exchange for an apology and a donation to charity. The apology, posted on the GoldieBlox website, reads: We sincerely apologize for any negative impact our actions may have had on the Beastie Boys.