Still, that didn't stop the network's Asian offices from having a little fun with the concept. In Shanghai, for example, an email was sent to all employees of the agency, informing them of boss Tom Doctoroff's resignation.
Displaying something of a cruel streak, Doctoroff noted a certain satisfaction at how his staff members took the news.
In Delhi, meanwhile, JWT took things to a further extreme. After GM Rohit Ohri announced his resignation, clients awoke on the 28th to find a special newspaper announcing, "J. Walter Thompson" shuts down. After finding their office closed, staff were eventually admitted into the new JWT, before sending off the old J. Walter Thompson 'Commodore' identity on helium-filled balloons.
Similarly, Singapore staff arrived at their office to find it closed, and were redirected to Cafe Society. There, amid the drums and crashing symbols of a traditional Chinese funeral procession, they saw off the 'Commodore', before embarking on the JWT Amazing Race across the Lion City. The final note to this day was sounded by MD Angus Fraser, who recorded a major upset by winning the agency's 'Transvestite Erotic Dance' competition over CFO Lew Trencher, although the relevance of this to the new JWT identity remains unclear.
In Vietnam, meanwhile, Steve Bonnell gleefully recounts that, upon finding the office closed, some employees were "very concerned about their futures!" The further infliction of a performance art troupe presumably did little to improve moods, before the fears were finally allayed by the introduction of the new JWT logo.