Chiat Lands the Sparkletts Ad Account
Don’t look for the Sparkletts man to don pink ears, sunglasses and start banging a big drum.
But the same Los Angeles ad agency that set loose the rambunctious Eveready rabbit--Chiat/Day/Mojo--on Tuesday won the estimated $10-million advertising business for McKesson Water Products, the Eagle Rock-based maker of Sparkletts non-carbonated drinking water.
“If you knock out the Dodgers, it’s hard to think of any brand more closely associated with Los Angeles than Sparkletts,” said David Nufer, vice president of marketing and strategic planning at McKesson, which has sold the Sparkletts brand here since 1925.
Likewise, some might say, few agencies are more closely associated with Los Angeles than Venice-based Chiat/Day. The firm, which also creates ads for Nissan, is the largest agency on the West Coast, with annual billings nationally of nearly $1 billion.
But the vast majority of Chiat/Day’s local business is generated by Nissan. “We would love to continue to grow the agency with non-automotive business,” said Bob Wolf, chairman of Chiat/Day/Mojo’s North American operations.
In that light, the agency has several new hopes. It is a finalist for the estimated $50-million NutraSweet Co. account, and for the $15 million in advertising business of Toshiba America Computer Systems. Both companies are expected to select their agencies next month.
It is unclear exactly what will happen to the friendly and familiar Sparkletts man, who for years has appeared in ads singing the tune, “Me and Sparkletts water making friends.” Executives of both McKesson and its new agency declined to speculate. But Wolf did note, “They have a lot of equity in the guy.”
The Sparkletts man was created by the Los Angeles office of Sachs-Finley, which handled McKesson Water Products’ ad business for 21 years. “We hope Chiat/Day enjoys the same 21 years of fun and success that we had,” said Jerry Sachs, president of Sachs-Finley, which resigned the business several months ago.
Besides Sparkletts, McKesson--the nation’s No. 2 water company--also sells its water under different names in other areas, including Alhambra in the San Francisco area and Crystal in parts of Arizona. All of its brands have stayed clear of the spate of bottled water recalls that affected six companies this year, including Perrier and, more recently, Koala Springs.
The new ads, which may focus less on home delivery and more on in-store sales, probably won’t appear until next spring.
