Some companies are rethinking the whole open concept thing.

In the middle of writing a book, former TBWA Creative Director Ken Segall is still on a rampage against Apple advertising. Last year he said Apple's current advertising makes it seem like the brand has lost its bite. Now he's trashing the brand again. Speaking to the Business Standard, Segall said, "I do not like the advertising Apple has been doing in the past few years. It is not my type. Also there is no Steve Jobs. Without Steve’s taste, it seems they are checking off boxes. They have done some soft advertisements. Look at some …

Well, this is timely and right up the snarky-ass alley of Adland. McKinney is out with #ShredYourEx, an ingenious hack.

BBH LA has just added two new creatives to the agency. Peter Albores joins the team as creative director and Kristian Grove Moller as associate creative director. Both Pete and Kristian will work across all LA clients and assist in new business. Peter joins BBH from BBDO, New York, where he held the role of creative director/copywriter since 2010. There, he worked on AT&T's “Anti-Texting” campaign, playing a big role in the initiative which brought together the four major American telecom carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile) and included the Werner Herzog documentary “From One Second to …

Oh look! Another entity which promises to hook up creative with agencies. No one's ever done this before, now, have they? Anyway, David Perez -- with help from Venables, Bell & Partners -- has launched The Perezidency. Yeah, cute name. It's a San Francisco-based talent consultancy that -- akin to agency search firms for brands -- helps connect creatives with agencies as well as brands and start-ups. Perez, who for the last two years served as recruiting director for Venables, Bell & Partners, opened his consultancy February 10 with Venables as his first client. …

Santa Monica-based creative agency Mistress will celebrate its five-year anniversary with a "romantic theme" party on Friday, February 13, in Venice Beach.

Geez. How do you follow up a career that included running DDB California as President & CEO, founding agency twofifteenmccann San Francisco, serving as chief strategy officer for TBWA\Chiat\Day, San Francisco, and spending five years as an account person at both Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Y&R in San Francisco? It can't be easy being awesome. But for Mike Harris, it's just another day in the office. Harris has joined agency 180 as global chief strategy officer, a newly created position that will have Harris overseeing the strategic needs of the agency's two offices, LA and Amsterdam. 

So you think you can create an international campaign complete with cultural nuances so you don't end up like Pepsi telling the Chinese it will bring their ancestors back from the grave? It's not as easy as it sounds. But Oban Digital, a UK-based agency specializing in cultural nuances, aims to help, and they have just launched in the U.S. Of the cultural calamity that can arise from marketing missteps, Oban Digital VP of U.S. Sales Trina Hymes said: "Audience attitudes and actions differ from country to country so understanding their intent and habits is key to …

Seriously? Klout? Who knew Klout still existed let alone have anyone pay credence to it.

Forgetting for a moment that Budweiser's Brewed the Hard Way ad actually trashes the brand itself, I've got to hand it to the beer giant for sticking to its guns and not apologizing for the ad which aimed a loaded gun at craft brewers. Too many brands crumble under pressure and give in to the "outrage" expressed by people. In a statement, Budweiser VP Brian Perkins said, "We are owning who we are without apology. We're delighted to have sparked a conversation around beer. 'Brewed the Hard Way' is Budweiser's way of celebrating being a macro brew: a beer …