Back by almost popular demand–
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Goodby and Silverstein, before they got interested in selling milk
GOODBY, SILVERSTEIN, AND PARTNERS
In Short: A San Francisco-based institution that created such memorable campaigns as the Got Milk? ads and those Budweiser reptiles that were so popular for a short period of time. For a while, Goodby was one of the last remaining independent shops, but eventually they got bought up by Ominicom, at which point they had to get rid of some of there more “quirky” agency policies such as paying employees with “Goodby Bucks” instead of legitimate currency. The agency itself is very brightly colored and filled with trophies which are displayed quite prominently throughout, making it almost impossible to walk through the agency without feeling deep, seething resentment for everyone that works there.
Are the people who work their crazy: Yes, and not just because they drink gallons of milk every day. For other reasons too.
Policy on drinking beer at the agency: Yes.
Agency Nickname: Chiat-Day.
If you want a job there: Bring your own trophy to the interview.
Fun fact: Their agency philosophy is “Art Serving Capitalism,” which is an ironic play on the 1931 Soviet propaganda slogan, “Art Serving Dead Capitalists with a Side of Proletariat Justice.” The homage is not accidental as most of the leadership at the agency at one time or another held prominent roles in the Gorbachev administration. Sometimes, for fun, they bring out a wax statue of Gorbachev and bathe it in milk.
Absolutely True Story: I interviewed here for an internship which I did not get back in college. The interview consisted of me sitting at a table with five Goodby employees who were all eating cereal. I did not speak during this interview, mostly because they didn’t ask me any questions. They spent the whole time talking about themselves in a language I could not decipher. I’m not really sure they even noticed when I left, and needless to say, I didn’t get the internship. The head of HR called me to let me know this saying, “the team thought you had tremendous promise, but there were so many qualified applicants.”