Let's Do Lunch Inside the world of advertising

At the Campaign Poster Awards last week, deadly rivals Saatchi and Saatchi and M&C Saatchi shared the top prizes. M&C, current home of lordly Maurice and humble Charles, picked up the gold award for best individual poster, for the Silk Cut "cheese grates" ad. The dynamic duo's former home, Saatchi and Saatchi, was garlanded for best campaign, for its series of recruitment ads for the army. Incidentally, that winning ad from M&C Saatchi, described by the judges as "quality", was dreamed up by a youthful team on work experience. Given the appalling treatment of most trainee copywriters and art directors in the industry, cynics will suppose that Louis Bogue and Pete Cain were fobbed off with a couple of crisp notes, milked for a few more ideas, and then sent packing to look for jobs permanent elsewhere. But no. M&C took them on straight away. Which goes to show what most of us already knew: Lord Mo and Crusty Chas are blessed with hearts of gold!

Good times, it seems, are back. Ammirati Puris Lintas recently delighted guests with non-stop champagne and oysters at its offices in Victoria. At the door were glamorous models in Lycra catsuits. Was there any purpose behind this lavish bash? According to the agency's flamboyant chairman, Andrew Cracknell, the evening offered a chance "to view the Cannes showreel". Oh yeah? But Crackers, Cannes was four months ago.

The Labour Party may not have won the general election yet, but it has beaten the other parties to put out the first-ever party political broadcast on national commercial radio. The two-and-a-half minute piece went out on Classic FM last week, after the 7pm newsn