The Globe and Mail

The advertising agency that was once one of the hottest in the country is closing its doors on Feb. 15, a move largely linked to the loss of its prized Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. business. Downtown Partners, a division of Omnicom Canada, was dealt a fatal blow last November when Labatt decided to streamline its agency roster and hand the coveted Budweiser beer account to its long time agency Grip Ltd. Downtown, which had had the account for six years, wasn't even given a chance of bidding on the brewer's other businesses. "The agency is a victim of consequence," Dan Pawych, creative director and a founding member of Downtown, said yesterday. "We tried everything we could to restructure the agency and fortify its existing business." The Labatt account, which consisted of the Budweiser, Bud Light and Keith's brands, represented almost 40 per cent of the agency's revenue. Downtown's Bud Light Institute campaign was acclaimed around the world, but U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch, which owns the brand, passed over the campaign for Super Bowl ads.