A Cleveland advertising executive is behind bars this week, after allegedly throwing an account pitch to a potential big client.
Vice President Joe Pillster was leading the presentation for his long-time employer, the Plowman Group, which was vying to represent parsley-based soft drink maker Meemo. The account is worth $18 million a year.
Also going after Meemo was rival firm UpSteve – which, according to the FBI, bribed Pillster $50,000 and a year’s supply of cinnamon products to deliberately throw the presentation so it would get the account instead.
“I knew something was up as soon as he started,” says a Pillster colleague who attended the presentation. “Instead of the flashy power point he always uses, he passed out loose-leaf pages with drawings of stickmen, and sang an off-key song about picking parsley.”
When he finished the number Pillster began the presentation. “Is there anything more ridiculous than parsley soda?” he asked, to gasps from the already-puzzled audience.
At that point four detectives burst into the room, stopped the presentation, and explained what was going on to the Plowman and Meemo bigwigs. Also attending were ten seventh graders from Cleveland’s “Ad Folks of the Future” Club.
While the FBI didn’t divulge how it found out about the bribe, a source says that the UpSteve employee who’d delivered the payment experienced some kind of “vision” and tipped them off.
After he was handcuffed, the agents led Pillster out of the hushed conference room. When they were about to exit, one of the youngsters stood up, with tears in his eyes.
“Say it ain’t so, Joe,” he said. “Say it ain’t so.”
