• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 14, 2018

Well, this story will get the cocktail conversation off to a chatty start at Cannes this weekend.

Campaign reported Thursday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may be looking into shady media trading practices that might run afoul of the law.

There wasn’t a lot of detail in the story, but it made clear that the purported FBI probe is separate from the investigation that the Department of Justice launched a while back looking into commercial production practices and potential bid rigging by agencies.  

The publication cited “multiple” but unidentified sources for its story on Thursday.

The DOJ probe began in late 2016. Separately the ANA released the results of its own investigation into commercial production practices last year, finding that some bid rigging did occur. But it also found that advertisers were at fault for not adequately stewarding the production process for their ads.

The ANA commercial production report followed a separate investigation and report commissioned by the trade group (K2 Intelligence did the legwork) looking into media agency trading practices like taking rebates from media companies and not informing clients. That so-called “Media Transparency Report” sparked controversy for its conclusion that media rebates — often undisclosed — is a common practice in the U.S. Critics were disturbed that the report did not name a single entity involved with the alleged transgressions.

It’s not clear what, if any, connection the purported FBI probe has with the ANA/K2 investigation. However the DOJ did contact K2 regarding its commercial production investigation, as the latter also did spade work for the ANA on that issue.

The major holding companies declined to comment yesterday or did not respond to queries for comment. On background, however, one major group said that neither it nor any of its agencies had been contacted by the FBI.

An FBI spokeswoman suggested I send a written email request for comment on the matter. No word back yet, although typically the bureau does not comment on ongoing investigations.