Gawker: Paul Tilley

Grave Dancing Insurance Company Gets NBC Show

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:10:43 EDT

NBC has a new show coming up this season called "Kings," which will be a joint-promotional deal with suicide-exploiting insurance company Liberty Mutual. They're the ones who promoted their shitty branding website by buying up Google Adwords like "Paul Tilley," the name of the ad exec who committed suicide in February. Classy! The show will be "a modern-day retelling of the David and Goliath story. The themes of the show are meant to be consistent with Liberty Mutual's "Responsibility Project," which promotes personal responsibility." Boycott this show responsibly, please. [NYT]

Responsibility Illustrated

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:21:39 EDT

Here's a good look at Liberty Mutual's feast of responsibility: the simplistic blog post on ResponsibilityProject.com that the company was seeking to promote by buying up deceased ad executive Paul Tilley's name in Google Adwords. "When a 40-year-old Chicago advertising executive named Paul Tilley died recently, the cause of death was officially ruled suicide," the post says. "But some believe that Tilley was metaphorically pushed by a steady stream of malicious comments anonymously posted about him online in the weeks before he took his life." Well, the investigators got it all wrong, then! We also notice that they've bought the word "responsibility." And after the jump, you can watch one of the site's responsibility-promoting films: "A man is just another passenger on a bus until he comes face to face with a thief. And a choice." So he chose to steal a dead guy's name to sell insurance, right? Surprisingly, no!

Liberty Mutual Uses Ad Exec's Suicide To Promote Itself

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:49:33 EDT

There was a ton of debate about the death of Paul Tilley, the ad agency exec who committed suicide last month. Some people charged mean bloggers with helping to push him over the edge—charges that seemed increasingly ridiculous, as people took time to consider the full situation. But Liberty Mutual, the huge insurance company, had another thought about Tilley's death: what a great way to promote our company! And that's exactly what they did, the sickos.

Liberty Mutual runs a website called ResponsibilityProject.com. It has a blog, videos, and other content promoting "responsibility," but it's fundamentally an interactive branding exercise tied to one of the company's ads.

Yesterday, a blogger at the Tribble Agency noticed that Liberty Mutual had bought Google Adwords related to Tilley to promote a story called "Death By Blog" that they're running on the Responsibility Project. That story, by ex-journalist Kathy McManus, attempts to position the Tilley-blog controversy as an "ethical" question, since some of the mean bloggers had posted mean remarks about Tilley "seemingly with no reason other than the chance to snipe at a big boss."

Another, more pertinent ethical question could be, "Is it right for a huge corporation, which has no legitimate claim on Tilley's life, image, or legacy, to buy ads based on the man's death in order to sell insurance?"

The consensus: no it's not, jerks. Ad industry bloggers who caught wind of the plan have called it everything from "wrong" to "irresponsible" to "insane," and AdScam referred to the company as, uh, "fucking douchenozzles." To make it worse, the company reportedly even bought the keywords "AdScam" and "Agency Spy"—the two blogs most closely tied to the criticisms of Tilley before his death.

It's obvious even to us that this is poorly conceived and tasteless. It appears that Liberty Mutual has pulled its keyword ads now (confirmation?), but this never should have happened in the first place. It would make a good case for the crappy "Responsibility Project."

[via Adverganza, AdScam, Adfreak]

STOP THIS BLOG BEFORE IT KILLS AGAIN

Pareene — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:40:26 EST

Paul Tilley, the ad exec who killed himself because blogs were mean to him (or something), continues to inspire the most self-righteous and least self-aware of scribes to put quill to parchment, adjust their oft-dropped monocles, and write, more in sadness than in anger ("I think I'm more saddened than pissed off"), strongly worded letters to whom it may concern regarding those mean, mean bloggers. Today, Bob Garfield, who blogs at Ad Age, helpfully explains "the difference between commentary and vandalism." "Commentary" is when smart, mustachioed professionals who've written books and things blog. "Vandalism" is when people are mean to those people, on the internet. [AdAge, UnRelated]

Nina DiSesa Becomes Her Own Blog Nightmare

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:33:12 EST

"I've seen blogs where if you don't have your name on [a comment], they won't run your answer. I respect those blogs, and the people who run those blogs have a great deal of integrity," said blog-hating ad agency exec Nina DiSesa in an interview we posted earlier today. Among those cowardly bloggers who provide a platform for totally anonymous comments: Nina DiSesa!

DiSesa set up a (pitiful) blog to help promote her book, "Seducing the Boys Club." It's on Blogspot, and it has four total posts. [We might also mention that although one of those posts touts the upcoming review of her book in the NYT business section, there is no follow up post to note that the reviewer called the book "contradictory" and "depressing"] And look at the terrifying, child-harming cowardly activity that took place on her blog just yesterday:

An anonymous comment! Who is thinking of the children? We must now wonder whether DiSesa herself has "a great deal of integrity." The only thing we can say for sure about her personally philosophy now is this: "Don't assume that men never listen. They listen like a dog does."

[Thanks to commenter belltolls]

Nina DiSesa To Bloggers: Stop Attacking Children!

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:02:37 EST

McCann Erickson ad agency exec Nina DiSesa has already made clear her feelings that ad industry bloggers are bitter losers, who bear some responsibility for the suicide of Chicago ad exec Paul Tilley. But in a just-posted new video interview, she expands on the real villains: "The blogs that attack the children." She thinks they should all be outlawed! Quite right, cause there's a lot of ad industry blogs that attack children and stuff, I guess, or something. DiSesa does display her canny understanding of the digital age by acknowledging, "It's fun to have a really good blog on your computer and to engage in it." Okay! The full clip, helpfully titled "Are bloggers dangerous?", is below.

Blogs Innocent Of Shoving Ad Exec To Death, Friend Says

Ryan Tate — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:30:00 EST

The Times looked into the death of DDB Chicago Creative Director Paul Tilley and found that he probably jumped from an upper floor of the Chicago Fairmont hotel to his death, and does not appear to have been brutally pushed through a window by the Scary Internet Blogs as had been feared. Though Tillet faced potentially lethal "biting" "harsh criticism" on AgencySpy.com, the Times found an anonymous friend of Tilley's who said blogs had nothing to do with his suicide:

... a colleague and friend of Mr. Tilley’s, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “There’s no way you or I will know why he did this, but it’s certainly not because of blogs.”

“I know it bothered him,” the colleague said, referring to the public criticism. “However, he was very intelligent, with lots of talents and skills, and this was not his whole life. Pointing to blogging and the media just trivializes a man whose life was not trivial.”

The Times also tracked down the 29-year-old woman who writes AgencySpy. She sent an email to the Times saying she does not feel responsible for Tilley's death:

“Perhaps the definition has changed as information has become more easily accessible,” she said. ”This new medium has different rules and that may include the scope of who and who isn’t in the public eye. Some people subscribe to these new notions and some don’t.

“I’m saddened by Paul Tilley’s death, but I do not feel that my blog postings contributed to the events that occurred.”

Nina DiSesa of ad agency McCann Erickson Worldwide, who has a new book arguing that men listen "like a dog does," said blogs should be more respectful. Her original quote, "BAD blogger, BAD!" was apparently rejected, and anyway most male readers were too busy sniffing butts and howling at the moon to finish the article.

Her nemesis George Parker at the advertising blog AdScam, who recently called "the vast majority of the work" coming out of DiSesa's firm "shit," said traffic to his site has tripled in the wake of the suicide.

[Times]

Nina Disesa On Men

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:25:29 EST

Angry McCann Erickson ad agency executive Nina Disesa reminisced fondly to the press today about her former colleague Paul Tilley, who committed suicide late last week. She commended his wisdom and sense of humor. Kind words, and quite a contrast to her assessment of anti-Tilley bloggers as hateful, bitter losers. It's worth pointing out, amidst all the hubbub, that Disesa is currently flogging her book, "Seducing The Boys Club," about how to survive and thrive as a woman in a man's world. Its observations seem to have informed her blog-relations tactics. Below, some of Disesa's top "practical, outrageous, and even controversial maxims" for dealing with men—the dogs!

• Learn to appreciate men. Men like women who like them.
• Remember that women are biologically wired to succeed.

• Don't assume that men never listen. They listen like a dog does.

• Screw the rules. Make up your own.

Ad Agency Boss Calls Bloggers Hateful Bitter Losers Over Tilley Suicide

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:52:42 EST

The controversy over what role (if any) ad bloggers played in ad exec Paul Tilley's suicide is rising up the ranks pretty fast. Earlier today Nina Disesa, the chairman of the New York flagship office of huge ad agency McCann Erickson, left a comment on the Agency Spy blog that calls bloggers hateful failures, and their commenters "losers." This prompted AdScam's George Parker, an actual ad industry guy who takes a backseat to no one in cussing out said industry, to scoff at her, and add that "I happen to think the vast majority of the work that comes out of McCann is shit." The most incredible aspects of this controversy are, 1. The fact that nobody knows why Tilley committed suicide has not prevented a major agency executive from speculating on the cause, and 2. A major agency executive could be so tone-deaf when it comes to the blogosphere. The whole thing is getting nastier by the minute, without any real new information. Disesa's full angry comment is copied below.

Nina DiSesa Says: February 25, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Paul Tilley worked for me for three years at JWT Chicago, from 1991 through 1994, then I left for New York. Even then we could see that this young man was destined for big things in this business. He was not only a wonderful writer and creative thinker, he was fun to be around and had a generosity of spirit that made us all happy to be in the same agency. And he was just a kid at that time.

These hateful advertising blogs seem to be written by people who are bitter about the business. Perhaps they tried to make it in this tough industry and failed and now all they can do is make derogatory comments about the people who are smart enough and brave enough to work at the top of this challenging business. It's so easy to criticize creative people because what we do is so arbitrary and subject to almost anyone's opinion, but only a few have the guts and the brains to be creative directors. It's a lonely job and the people who keep insulting creative directors on this blog should spend their time trying to be better at their own jobs. I notice that no one uses their real name. Mine is Nina DiSesa, I am still in the business and working every day as the chairman of McCann Erickson's New York office. And I don't care if everyone takes a potshot at me. People who write and contribute to these ugly blogs are losers. Their comments don't bother me in the least.

Did Agency Spy Blog Drive Ad Exec To Suicide?

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:51:13 EST

Paul Tilley, executive creative director of the major ad agency DDB in Chicago, jumped to his death from a hotel window on Friday. He played a key role in many familiar ad campaigns, including "Dude, you're getting a Dell" and the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign for McDonald's. But Tilley was often criticized on industry blogs, and in the wake of his suicide, some people are calling those harsh criticisms a factor in his death. Others are arguing just as hard against that interpretation. Below, a selection of the negative comments on Agency Spy, a blog that had criticized Tilley's management skills recently (and offered "heartfelt condolences" on his death):

Seamus Says: February 24, 2008 at 7:08 am Agreed that it's sad and I am sure the condolences are meant. But you bitched about the guy 5 days ago and now that post is mysteriously missing from your site.

S.O. Says:
February 24, 2008 at 11:58 am
Heartfelt? True? Just stop it now. It's too late.
Paul was a talented, compassionate, kind, and thoughtful man. But those with far less character, in name and anonymously, chose not to write those things.

bill Says:
February 24, 2008 at 3:43 pm
death by blog
It looks like this stupid blog can kill more than a career.

bill Says:
February 24, 2008 at 3:50 pm
F-ing parasites!
Agency Spy, George Parker/Adscam, and Lewis Lazare/Sun Times should all be sued.

Dan Says:
February 24, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Trust me... as someone who's known Paul for over 20 years... he heard and felt all those comments and whispers.
Sadly, we'll never know what drove him in those final hours. All support to his two girls.

gb Says:
February 25, 2008 at 3:01 am
What was written in the blogs about Paul was outrageous and cruel. If you don't think that such deeply hurtful comments were not impacting him and his family or fanning the flames at work, you are seriously naive. The criticism certainly undermined him. Paul sure wasn't perfect, but who is?
I can only hope that this horrible event will lead people to think twice before they let loose with caustic comments that are globally disseminated. Are there no standards of decency in the blogosphere? There should be.

hesucks Says:
February 25, 2008 at 1:54 pm
i think it's time for your to rename this site 'BLOODONMYHANDS.COM'