A couple of well-known British advertising guys—WPP CEO Mark Read and Jellyfish CEO Nick Emery-- were named Commanders of the Order of the British Empire effective with the new year by King Charles III.  

The CBE is kind of a big deal in the UK. It’s the third-highest ranked of five awards within the Order of the British Empire, behind two Knighthood ranks. 

But don’t call them sir—that honorific is reserved for knights, like S4 Capital head Martin Sorrell, er, make that Sir Martin Sorrell who was knighted in 2000.  

Emery was named CBE for services to the media and marketing industries. He joined Brandtech in 2021 to create the group’s media operation which he still leads. He took on duties as Jellyfish CEO after Brandtech acquired the agency last year. Prior to Brandtech Emery served for more than two decades as Global CEO of Mindshare, part of WPP’s GroupM. 

Read, who succeeded Sorrell as WPP CEO in 2018 was cited for his contributions to the creative industries.  

The King has some help in bestowing the awards. Recipients are nominated. Then a special committee evaluates the nominees and makes recommendations. Awardees are announced at the end of the year.  

Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Soccer great David Beckham has been nominated several times for a knighthood. Recent reports in the UK press indicated he was “snubbed” once again this year. He was caught up in a tax avoidance scheme a decade ago and there’s been a lot of speculation that those tax issues have a lot do with the snubbing, despite being a soccer GOAT and having been involved in numerous charitable causes during his career and after.