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f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

November 22, 2004

jackal sequel

Filed under: pre-06-2006 — David Giacalone @ 5:31 pm

Ross Fishman of Red Jackal Ads has responded to the questions we raised about his services

creating glossy-magazine-style Yellow Pages ads for lawyers, in a Comment that deserves to be 

read in full. ( Ernie touted the “tasteful” ads earlier this month.)  I’d like to highlight two issues: 

 

wolf dude neg   Ross Fishman says:  “[Y]ou comment skeptically that this will inevitably lead to”…

higher profits for some lawyers, without an increase in the quality of legal services”? Well, yes,

that’s our goal.  We’re an ad agency, not Legal Aid; we can’t practice law or control the quality

of the legal services of our clients. Our specific goal is to generate significantly higher profits for

some lawyers — our clients — just as mega-ad agency Leo Burnett’s goal has long been to generate

more sales and higher profits for Pillsbury using the Dough Boy. Hey, it’s the American way.”










   winter nears –
   in the dog’s eyes
   the wolf

                         Billie Wilson


Your Editor’s Reply:   An ad agency may not have a special duty toward the legal client, but lawyers

certainly do.   Consumers can readily tell whether Pillsbury biscuits are worth their premium price, and lose

little giving it a try.   But, the average consumer of legal services cannot readily judge quality or price, which

is one reason why clients are given fiduciary protection.  A lawyer’s using PR image-making (and faux empathy)

to create a platform for higher fees, unrelated to the quality of services, does not jibe with my concept of

fiduciary responsibility.  Unlike the legal profession, Pillsbury has never claimed to put its customers’ interests first and has never sworn to do so. 

 

tiny check  Ross notes that Lawyers Weekly, despite its excellent work, may not always “get every single

fact correct,” but confirms that “Lorne [MacLean, the ad client in the story] had just spun off his divorce

practice from his partner.”












the wolf too
peeks out his hole…
autumn dusk


 

Issa, translated by D. G. Lanoue

 

Your Editor’s Reply: This still leaves unanswered whether the LW USA article was correct in stating that

MacLean, who had so recently started his own firm, had “increased his firm’s already significant profits by

more than 200 percent” and did so “By simply changing the design of his Yellow Pages ad.”  Whether

used by a lawyer or an ad agency, if the quote is misleading, it should not figure so prominently on Red

Jackal’s website

 


    in the dark

the trap snaps shut

    silent dawn

 

                            Jim Kacian

 

 

p.s.  My family name starts with “jackal,” but I’m not sure I’d want that scavenger-predator as

my logo or corporate identity.   The image of the famous movie-character killer for hire doesn’t

inspire me, either.  Guess I’ve gone soft with all this haiku around.













 
    red fox

18 Comments

  1. My, interesting thread. Wondering if you all hadn’t heard of the 1978 US Supreme Court case Bates v. State of Arizona Bar?

    Comment by Steve Hausheer — January 14, 2005 @ 6:57 pm

  2. My, interesting thread. Wondering if you all hadn’t heard of the 1978 US Supreme Court case Bates v. State of Arizona Bar?

    Comment by Steve Hausheer — January 14, 2005 @ 6:57 pm

  3. Very nice

    Comment by Anelia — September 1, 2005 @ 9:04 pm

  4. Very nice

    Comment by Anelia — September 1, 2005 @ 9:04 pm

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