Another One Bites The Dust. Cliff Freeman And Partners Shuts Up Shop.

Although not a complete shock to the industry, the once mighty Cliff Freeman and Partners is dead after 22 years in the industry. Responsible for classics like Little Ceaser’s “Pizza, Pizza” and the fantastically funny and memorable Fox Sports Net ads, Cliff Freeman and Partners were creative leaders and producers of top-quality work.

But as Creativity Online reports:
Cliff had trouble emerging from the dot-com bust and an exodus of clients and, by 2003, began leaking crucial talent. One trio of executives started the boutique Amalgamated; creative director Eric Silver — he of the gerbil cannon — went to BBDO. Flirtations with holding-company money and succession plans failed, and the agency never really got out from its founder’s shadow.

In 2004, MDC Partners pumped some cash into the firm to help aid a turnaround, taking a minority stake in return. In November 2005, Mr. Freeman brought in Jeff McClelland, a big agency executive with time at Dentsu and Ogilvy, to become its first CEO. The idea was to help the firm adapt to changes in the ad environment and help an agency best known for TV spots to do some more multidisciplinary integrated work. Mr. McClelland had some new-business success, bringing in sandwich chain Quiznos and Bonefish Grill. But by 2008, he was out, replaced with BBDO account man Clayton Ruebensaal, who lasted just five months in the role.

You can read more here. Frankly, we’re just a little too depressed to write any more about it right now. Let’s hope that, at the tender age of 67, Cliff Freeman himself still has time to bounce back.