• by John Gaffney , January 29, 2003

State Of The Business: If you’re in the media business, it may not have seemed like George Bush was talking to you last night, but he was talking to you. The situation in Iraq, as he describes, is going to hamstring a lot of brands during the rest of Q1, as well as the stock market. You’ve already heard that budgets are in a kind of post-Sept. 11 limbo. That hasn’t stopped any companies like A-B, Nissan, Cadillac and P&G from forging ahead with new programs and even an increase in ad spending, and it probably won’t. But you have to wonder how many brands are in the midst of executing “the big idea” or in the midst of committing a big budget that might be saying to themselves, “maybe we should off at least a few more weeks.” I think George Bush’s best achievement last night is that he put some distance between himself and the Iraq issue. He talked about potential danger and current danger. That’s the climate we live in as media professionals. I don’t like the climate. Doubt anybody does. So you do business the best you can.

Hey, Michael Eisner, What Are You Going To Do Now?: According to wire reports, despite a continued spiral, Walt Disney Co.'s board granted Executive Michael Eisner a $5 million restricted stock bonus for fiscal 2002, and awarded both restricted stock and cash bonuses to other top executives. Do these guys know how to spell corporate governance?

Parting Shot: Last thought on Super Bowl ads. I’d like to see a poll of consumer recall of Super Bowl ads two weeks after the game. Anybody working on that?