Paseo pitch hit by agency pullouts

JAKARTA - Two agencies have pulled out of the final round of pitching for Paseo, the tissue brand produced by under-fire Indonesian paper company, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

Publicis and Lowe both withdrew from a final shoot-out, leaving local shop Lemonade - which was eliminated in the first round, but was later invited back in - the sole contender.

Lowe informed the client that a busy new business period, during which it has picked up Maxis Communications, Bajaj Auto, Bank NISP and OCBC Bank, prevented it from properly servicing another new client.

However, sources say Lowe was at odds with APP’s environmental and human rights record, which is under close scrutiny from NGOs Greenpeace and WWF for alleged illegal logging in forests in Indonesia and China.

Publicis was next to withdraw from the pitch. The agency objected to a surprise re-inclusion of Lemonade in the final round following Lowe’s departure.

Henry Saputra, the chairman and chief executive officer of Publicis Indonesia, called the decision to invite Lemonade back into the pitch process as “unfair”.