If the metaphors P&G marketing chief Jim Stengel uses to set up his keynotes are any indication, then Madison Avenue’s focus has shifted from DVR angst to virtuosity. Three years ago when Stengel
last spoke at an AAAA media conference, he started on a TiVo hard drive. This year, he entered via Second Life. Actually, he flew in as an arm-flapping avatar swooping around Leo Burnett’s hub on
the online virtual community. As odd as a digitized Stengel avatar looked, it was his companion, a virtually resurrected version of Leo Burnett himself, which made the introduction feel really
surreal. Leo, of course, has been dead for TK years, even if his spirit still imbues the advertising industry. But seeing him walking, talking and, yes, even flying around the online community gave
new meaning to the term “second life.†Apparently, it’s not just for the living. It was an interesting choice for a co-presenter, especially given the controversy generated by Crispin Porter
+ Bogusky’s recent virtual resurrection of popcorn namesake Orville Redenbacker. The unusual campaign was immediately re-dubbed Orville “Deadenbacher†by critics in the blogosphere. Making
matters worse, virtual Leo’s avatar was rendered with a ghoulishly grey complexion. Then again, Stengel quipped, “I think Leo looks a lot better in Second Life, than he did in first.†That
rule, however, doesn’t apply for all of the ad industry’s virtual characters. “The ugliest avatar I’ve seen on Second Life is Bob Liodice,†Stengel said, referring to the head of his own
trade association, the Association of National Advertisers. What are ad industry execs doing on Second Life when they’re not gliding around the virtual offices of Leo Burnett? According to
Stengel’s sampling of conference audience members, they’re spending their time in “sex clubs,†or playing virtual golf. When not flying around Leo Burnett’s virtual offices
