• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, March 9, 2014

Chicago-based RPM Advertising is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an interesting gift to its staff. CEO Steve Platcow and company president Mark Malin appeared on the History Channel’s American Restoration on March 4 as the lead project on the episode. The challenge was for the restoration team to convert a vintage slot machine into a “Sloterator,” a functional slot machine that would store a keg and dispense beer for company happy hours. The Sloterator will be unveiled at a cocktail reception for the RPM Advertising team members on April 1, 2014.  April Fool’s Day is the agency’s actual anniversary date. That should be quite the party.

Leave it to Madison Avenue to ruin a good thing. Instagram has received a reported $100 million ad spend commitment from Omnicom. Ads from Omnicom agencies including BBDO, DDB, TBWA\Chiat|Day, PHD, OMD and others will appear in Instagram users' streams. And they won't just scroll off the screen after being seen once. The deal calls for the ads to be seen by users "for an extended period of time." And it seems Starcom MediaVest will be getting in on the action too in a separate deal. Advertising. Always raining on a beautiful parade.

So SXSW is happening. Are you there/here? If you are there/here, do you know why you are there/here? If that isn't confusing enough, watch these five videos that AdWeek shot as part of its SXSW coverage. After watching all five videos, answer this one question. Can you give me one good reason why any of these five people are in Austin. Texas on the company dime?

That said, if you are in SXSW (still, it's Monday now), and you're feeling a bit lost, check out SXsports Playbook from LA-based sports and entertainment creative shop Zambezi. SXsports Playbook is a site on which you can take a 12-question survey that, once completed, will point you to five curated panel groupings consisting of must-see sports lineups that are tailored to interest expressed in the survey. As SXSW gets bigger and bigger each year, something -- anything -- is needed to navigate the insanity. Check it out.

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