According to a 4As spokes-person, the agencies said they no longer had the time to invest in the organisation and had their own agencies to run.
Bates and Leo Burnett join the council, while two others, elected by 4As president Datuk Vincent Lee, will be invited to join. Lee, chairman of Naga DDB, was unanimously returned as 4As president, as was VP Tony Savarimuthu, managing director of McCann Erickson Malaysia.
The 4As is currently contesting a proposed ban on fast food ads with the Health Minister Chua Soi Lek.