Now I'm sure that WPP/Grey didn't get to be largest ad agency in the world by turning away work. But you cannot convince me that the Grey Healthcare office in Istanbul actually got paid cash money to produce a tearaway flier to help drum up business for the neighborhood circumcision clinic. I just don't believe it.
If anything, this kind of, uh, ad team self-entertainment looks like what you get when there's not enough billable work.
And speaking of actual client work, I though it best to put another ad from the same creative director, Nurcan Yildiz, after the jump. The client was a cholesterol drug. The project was a mail insert. Every pun in the world intended.
Click for the full-size version, which is not actually what it looks like: Kolestor Zipper [adsoftheworld.com]
Ismet Dural Circumciser - Cut - print, Turkey [commercial-archive.com via buzzfeed]
Believe it! Circumcision is a big event in Turkey. 12 year old boys are paraded around in capes and crowns preceding this big family event. A special circumcision outfit is the most important part of the preparations for the ceremony. Rich families adorn their sons with jewels in big cities, and a light blue headgear on which the word “Maşallah” is embroidered on the front. A few days before the ceremony, or even on the day itself, the children to be circumcised are paraded around, either on horseback, on a cart or else by car. People are informed by means of this parade that the child is to be circumcised. I saw this all over Istanbul. It's big business.