Ad agency Hero Group sued Omnicom's DDB agency over a $4 billion US Army contract.
The suit filed in the Northern District Court of Illinois stems from a $4 billion Army account that DDB won in 2018 and claims misrepresentation, breach of contract, and fraud. The suit is seeking $100 million in damages based on an estimate of the revenue Hero Group would have earned if it worked with DDB on the entire 10-year contract, the suit claims.
The suit alleges Hero Group specialized in targeting young people and would also help DDB meet the legal requirement to assign around 40% of the Army business to small and disadvantaged, or minority-owned, businesses. According to the suit, Gunning promised to make Hero Group DDB's primary partner if they won the review. The suit quotes an email in which Gunning allegedly wrote Anthony: "I will look for you to make a serious impact on our pitch." It also claims that DDB's pitch deck used a "substantial portion" of Hero Group's own proposals, like "Real Life Iron Man."
Think of the land and equipment and supplies we could purchase with $4 billion for a studio upgrade. One million square feet ought to do it? Hey we promise we won't pull any shady fraudulent shenanigans like that if you let us bid. Uh, what was the job anyway?
this is terrible news