WE HEAR that Adweek editor in chief Alison Fahey—known for her skill in coldly berating her staff members until they leave the magazine in droves—is being promoted to a corporate position, out of knife-throwing range of the editorial staff. The "weekly," which recently switched to a 36-issue per year schedule, now has headhunters poking around the industry for a suitable replacement for Fahey. Although the consensus seems to be that her unique style of personnel management will be hard to duplicate. Any further info, email us.

Despite the dearth of new programming options on television these days, successfully launching a new show can still be quite the challenge. Fox's new show, Unhitched, is no exception. While it has a strong pedigree (EP'd by The Farrelly Brothers), there's still a lot of work to be done in getting viewers to pay attention to a show that has no stars (we crush on Rashida Jones, too, but her name doesn't exactly equate to appointment viewing). And although the show debuted strong when it aired this Sunday (Mediaweek reported a 4.5/7 in overnights, good for a 92% hold from its Family Guy lead-in), the suits at Fox are taking no chances in their promos for the show. Their latest work invokes not one, not two but THREE quotes from TV scribes who compared the show to Seinfeld. Subtle, it is not. As for its effectiveness, we'll just have to wait and see. Oh, and for what it's worth, we liked the pilot quite plenty. [Fox]

Ah, the 90s—when times were simple, and phones had cords. Two trends we look back on fondly: the brief popularity of collect calling plans like 1-800-COLLECT (when was the last time you made a collect call, while not in a foreign country or incarcerated?) and the innocent sight of celebrities (who would one day sit astride the earth as legends) doing the schlubby crap that defines the workaday life of a not-famous-enough-yet star. So this 1-800-COLLECT ad featuring dead SNL Smirk King Phil Hartman embodies all the purity of that bygone age. And hey, look at who else is in this stupid ad! I guess work is work, until that big break in Nurse Betty comes along. Video [via Best Week Ever] below.

This new Broadway musical-themed ad for the Mohegan Sun Casino has inspired reaction on the ad blogs that spans the entire spectrum from "trite" to "gag" to "shit" to "I'd quit if I worked on that" (and indeed, the ad has been mysteriously pulled from YouTube—and UPDATE, the agency tells us that they didn't "pull the spot," just replaced a "rough cut" with the final version). What is for sure is that this is one casino where you are not in danger of, say, waking up in the morning with cocaine strewn across your room and a hazy memory of marrying a hooker; a more likely scenario is having a helluva energetic song and dance session with other goofy, middle aged whites, then going straight to bed to wake up in time for church. Count us in! The full ad [via Agency Spy], after the jump.

The LA Times is trying to slow its inevitable decline with a bunch of futuristic digital billboard ads across Los Angeles, which will show a series of news, sports, and entertainment stories, along with promos for local events, on an eight-second rotation. When drivers rubberneck at the new billboards and crash their cars, the paper will cover that, as well. [Ad Age]

Yesterday we found out that Firebrand, the big-money "advertainment" website that hoped to turn commercials into content that people would actually seek out, is going under. Not too surprising; the whole reason the TV ad genre is in trouble is that people don't want to see ads, and can now skip them with DVRs. But at least Firebrand will leave a useful legacy: it brought sexy French ads to the outside world. It already offered us the world's sexiest fruit ad, and now, as a bon voyage, we bring you this ad for "Naturism" in France. It ranks even higher than the fruit ad—probably due to being more SFW (still not 100%), but making you wish it wasn't.

Designer Jill Stuart may have had enough of Lindsay Lohan's slutty shenanigans! Stuart signed the persistently famous Lohan on as the face of her brand for a big ad campaign last year, but now she is reportedly looking at Hilary Swank as a "more professional image" for her next campaign [Mixed Media]. A double standard could be in effect; a lifetime of drug use and crazy behavior by Rolling Stone Keith Richards hasn't prevented him from being picked as the new face of Louis Vuitton. If a luxury brand wants a wild celebrity fronting it, shouldn't they at least pick an attractive one? After the jump, a visual comparison of Lohan's ads with Richards' ad. See if you can tell which has lived harder.

Is Firebrand.com, the "advertainment" website funded by a multimillion-dollar investment from Microsoft, NBC Universal, and GE, going to be shut down? [UPDATE: Another tipster tells us that Firebrand was shut down yesterday, and that all employees have been told to hand in their Blackberries and not return to the company's headquarters]. [UPDATE 2: An hour and eleven minutes later, the NYT makes it official]. And regarding yesterday's rumor that Saatchi & Saatchi X might get folded into its parent company, the agency's CEO Andy Murray says it isn't true; "This is not the kind of operation you just fold into another agency. A very weird rumor with absolutely no merit," he writes.

Supermodel Heidi Klum signed on to be the face (and ass) of Jordache last year. They needed the help; Jordache was really cool when I was in elementary school, and since then, not so much. The company has been pushing Klum's ads everywhere—today, there's a half page spot in the Post adjacent to Page Six. Which makes it all the more pressing to answer the question: What happened to her nipples? Jordache has chosen to offset the fact that Klum is doing topless ads by simply making her nipples disappear, which is eerie, bad for children's educations, and, frankly, un-American. Sports Illustrated does some photo magic for its swimsuit issue, but this is more blatant and disturbing. The offending ads are after the jump; please advise your kids that this is not natural.

Anybody hearing that massive ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi is thinking about shutting down its Saatchi & Saatchi X division—which has close relationships with big clients like Wal-Mart—and folding its clients into the parent group? Email us.

"I've seen blogs where if you don't have your name on [a comment], they won't run your answer. I respect those blogs, and the people who run those blogs have a great deal of integrity," said blog-hating ad agency exec Nina DiSesa in an interview we posted earlier today. Among those cowardly bloggers who provide a platform for totally anonymous comments: Nina DiSesa!

One lesson that you, not being an advertising professional, might think would have sunk in by now: Don't use 9/11 as an advertising tool. Not even for a good cause, like this anti-tobacco ad. It's just skeevy. But the imagery is so powerful! Still no. [Daily Dish]

"Congratulations! You are one of the select few who have included a cover letter with their application. This puts you in great position for the opening and we look forward to meeting you."—A response from HR at the old-school mega ad agency Grey, to a recent job applicant. Most ad people are too creative for cover letters. [The Daily Biz]

McCann Erickson ad agency exec Nina DiSesa has already made clear her feelings that ad industry bloggers are bitter losers, who bear some responsibility for the suicide of Chicago ad exec Paul Tilley. But in a just-posted new video interview, she expands on the real villains: "The blogs that attack the children." She thinks they should all be outlawed! Quite right, cause there's a lot of ad industry blogs that attack children and stuff, I guess, or something. DiSesa does display her canny understanding of the digital age by acknowledging, "It's fun to have a really good blog on your computer and to engage in it." Okay! The full clip, helpfully titled "Are bloggers dangerous?", is below.

The Times looked into the death of DDB Chicago Creative Director Paul Tilley and found that he probably jumped from an upper floor of the Chicago Fairmont hotel to his death, and does not appear to have been brutally pushed through a window by the Scary Internet Blogs as had been feared. Though Tillet faced potentially lethal "biting" "harsh criticism" on AgencySpy.com, the Times found an anonymous friend of Tilley's who said blogs had nothing to do with his suicide:

What with all those new condos and shit going up in Williamsburg, a bunch of rich Manhattanites will have to be persuaded to cross the river to Brooklyn one way or another. So how about this: Williamsburg is edgy, so we will name our new luxury condominium the "Edge." Further, Williamsburg is gritty, so we will acknowledge that harsh fact in our advertising; but we will contrast it with the glamour which also resides in Williamsburg [Copyranter]. The neighborhood is quite the enigma! Weird, cause the Williamsburg I know is just full of people who remind you of yourself, if you were more annoying. That, and hipster dog parades.

The last time we saw Screech, he was waving a dildo around on Celebrity Fit Club. The time before that? It was in his self-released sex tape. With a resume like that, you'd think that Dustin Diamond's next gig would be as a jizzmopper at The Cathouse or something. But you'd be wrong. In what will surely go down as one of the most mocked marketing decisions of this still young year, Screech was just signed to be the pitchman of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter."

Funny and sucky things happen when ads on websites get juxtaposed with content that the advertisers wouldn't like to have associated with their products. For example: Panasonic Toughbooks are super tough computers. One reviewer says they can take anything—"That includes being dropped from almost a metre, being showered with water, being thrown in the mud and being dragged through dust and sand. It's therefore no surprise that ToughBooks are used by the US military." So maybe appearing right next to these torture photos from Abu Ghraib on WIRED's site really was a good branding opportunity. Ehhh... some things just don't sell well. (Click to enlarge). [WIRED]

Microsoft has finally figured out that, despite being one of the world's most powerful corporations, it is getting its ass handed to it in the advertising arena. As annoying as those "Mac vs. PC" ads are, it's pretty amusing that the richest man in the world is having his company's consumer credibility shredded by the cultivated stubble and shrugs of Justin Long, who isn't even funny or anything. Now, Microsoft has struck back by handing a $300 million consumer advertising account to Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the HOT and HIP young Miami agency that brought us campaigns like the Miller Lite "Man Laws" and Burger King's scary, big-headed "King" figure. Things are about to get weird. A guide to what to expect, after the jump.

"If it's not fixed by the one who made it, it probably won't work," says this ad touting Chevy and its service centers [via AdPulp]. I get it! But wait, I hope they paid some royalties to plastic surgery victim Jocelyn Wildenstein, cause they are totally ripping off her look. Compare and contrast: