Fallon, I was rooting for you. I really was. I loved what you stood for. You gave hope to small, cold towns. You proved great work was geography agnostic. You lured talent away from places like San Diego for the habitrails of Minneapolis.

Sure, you invented scam. But with BMW Films, you also invented a category. Because of you, we Lived Richly, Stayed Smart, and Understood With Time. You made household names of Sullivan, Barrie, and Hahn. I can honestly say that without you, Fallon, I would not have pursued a career in advertising.

After Lubars left, you had a rocky go. Nobody blames you for that. But recently, you seemed to be on a roll with Al Kelly. “We Are Fallon” was smart, confident. New creative for Holiday Inn was hilarious.  Alpo and Boston Market were great wins.

Yet for some reason, you hired a new ECD, presumably fired Al Kelly, and laid off the very people who were fighting to return Fallon to same-breath status as Goodby and Crispin.

I don’t claim to know the details of how or why any of this happened. All I know is that itchy layoff fingers are the bane of our industry’s livelihood. You stooped to quick-fix-tricks: layoffs and celebrity hires. You have spat on the virtue of incremental progress. It’s so un-Fallon.

But I have an idea that can help you reclaim some lost karma. Why not join Please Feed The Animals in helping laid off advertising talent get back to work? We will be evolving this blog into an advertising industry job site very soon. Become one of our beta testers. You will be able to search for talent for free. That’s right, PFTA won’t charge you a headhunter fee. We also won’t charge you to contact anyone you find on our site. All of this will remain true even after the beta phase.

During beta, you will be able to post job listings for free. In exchange, you provide feedback on the kinks. Tell us how we can improve, what features you think are missing, and how we can better help you help yourself. Seems like a pretty even trade to me.

So, Fallon. Do we have a deal?

I’m no expert – hell, I’m not even a novice – on corporate law. But this is fascinating stuff.  In every jurisdiction in every corner of the world, the law states that those at the head of publicly held companies have a legal duty to maximize profits for their shareholders. Many unethical corporations interpret this as shareholder primacy….placing profit above all else, including any perceived loyalty to their people. If a CFO can reduce payroll – an operational expense on cash flow statements – as a quick-fix back to black, shareholder primacy becomes a nice, tidy legal excuse to lay people off.

For a much better explanation on how shareholder primacy is directly affecting people like you and me, read this entry in PrawfsBlawg.

He also references another idea called the “uncorporation.” This intrigues me as a model for the re-emergence of independent advertising agencies in this country. I honestly can’t see any other way.