• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 1, 2014

Well, you can't win them all, Maurice -- but you can win the Diversity Pioneer Award from the American Advertising Federation. At the annual Diversity Achievement Mosaic Awards ceremony, Maurice Levy, chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, was honored with the Diversity Pioneer award -- the highest distinction given at this occasion. Launched in 2001 by the American Advertising Federation and the Mosaic Center, an integrated sector of the AAF, the Mosaic Awards mission is to promote diversity in the communications industry by valorizing the efforts and achievements in multicultural marketing. If you can't win in the M&A game, you might as well be known for forging ahead with diversity and multicultural marketing. Recently, Omnicom Group CEO John Wren took home an "outstanding services" award from the International Advertising Association.

McCann-Erikson Israel is in the spotlight currently. And not for a very good reason. It's under fire for a Huggies campaign it created that has been called sexually suggestive. Yes, a diaper campaign that's accused of being sexually suggestive. In the ad, babies dress up and show off their fancy denim Huggies. They frolic. They pose. It just looks like good fun. But many in Israel took to social media to complain. One woman, Maya Naveh, wrote: “Your campaign shows babies in sexual, adult and provocative poses. It’s disgusting and pedophilic.” For its part, Huggies calls the ads "a celebration of color and fun." Yale University Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry Alan Lawrence Kazdin thinks it’s all just par for the course, saying: “Twenty years ago, we would have thought this ad was weird and bad,” as he told ABC News. “Think about the context. There are greeting cards with children dressed up as adults kissing each other in a romantic way. Dolls are provocative and children as young as 4 and 5 wear over-the-shoulder fashions. On TV, high school students have children. Shows have sex in the title. Who’s watching these? There is huge sexualization all over the place.” You can watch the ad here.

Social Media agency We Are Social just nabbed the PVH Corp account and the agency will handle the company's Van Heusen and IZOD brands. Of selecting We Are Social, PVH Heritage Brands Senior VP of Creative Services Anthony Trama said: “Both the Van Heusen and IZOD brands have long histories and remain in demand because we continue to promote them in ways that are current and relevant to consumers. Social media increasingly plays an important role in each brand’s ability to drive incremental growth, and we look forward to partnering with We Are Social to help take our brands to the next level.”

R/GA is getting all customer focused and has hired a managing director of customer relationship management. Taking the position is former General Assembly VP and Head of Global Marketing Matt Tepper, who will work toward increasing R/GA's ability to strengthen customer relationships for its clients and forge ahead with CRM-enhanced paid media. Of Tepper joining the agency, R/GA Chief Global Client Services Officer Seth Solomons said: “We recognize that CRM is at the center of our clients’ marketing strategies, and are excited for Matt to bring his innovative approach to our global network. His unique blend of analytics, creativity and entrepreneurship will ensure that we’re implementing the most compelling content and effective technologies for both the agency and our clients.&rdquo ;