Advanced Micro Devices, the globe's second largest manufacturer of computer processor chips, has put its estimated $30 million (€22.99m; £16.0m) global ad account into review and fired incumbent McCann Erickson Worldwide.
The move was triggered by the revelation that McCann's parent, Interpublic Group, is in hot pursuit of the greater gelt of numero uno rival Intel - account value ten times that of AMD and up for grabs since last fall [WAMN: 06-Oct-04].
MCann's lips are zipped on its 'firing', although a distinct gleam may have been evident in the eyes of Courtney Beuchert, evp/general manager at the agency's San Francisco office, who lulled: "Over the past two years we've been proud to work with the team at AMD. They're a great group and we wish them much success in the future."
According to AMD company filings, it has recently hiked annual adspend to around $30m in backing for its new Athlon 64, Opteron and Sempron brands.
As for the Intel joust, it is currently contested by units of Interpublic, Omnicom Group and WPP Group, with announcement of the victor/s expected by the end of this quarter.
Data sourced from AdAge (USA); additional content by WARC staff
