The US’s second-oldest agency, The Gate, commemorates 150 years in operation. The advertising firm is celebrating its anniversary by expressing regret to its past clients.  Through amusing apologies, the company outlines the tasks that destroyed their connections. Although the stories are made up, they display the agency’s inventiveness.

The customers and the deadlines, however, are correct. For example, The Gate apologizes to Buitoni Pasta for its 1960s work on the brand, which unintentionally led Americans to believe that the company had ties with the Mafia.

The MSQ-owned company has appealed to previous clients, promising that whatever mistakes cost them business, its present team is more than up to the task.

The details of the apologies made by The Gate

The six letters of apology are sent to former business partners, including the Italian pasta manufacturer Buitoni, the French jeweler Cartier, and the cruise line Cunard.

An agency executive brags about the agency’s history of great copywriting and the maritime jingle, “Anchors away, let’s not wear our corsets all day,” in the agency’s speech to the latter client.

After taking some time to apologize for an inappropriate relationship that a Gate chairman had 103 years before, he ends by promising that “if you give us another chance, none of your passengers will be allowed to play strip shuffleboard with our existing agency management.

The apologies are an act

The apologies are a parody, with the executive played by an actor. The current staff of The Gate can only speculate as to why their forebears lost Cunard’s business. However, the firm kept the company until 1919, when it promoted international cruises on board the tragic Lusitania.

Nancy Aresu, president of The Gate New York, admits that the campaign involves some grade-A begging. However, there is a purpose to the job. “The Gate believes that there are two distinct types of individuals in the world: simplifiers and complicators.. We’ve always related to the people who simplify things, she claims. “So, for our 150th anniversary, we made the decision to get the message out clearly. We want a second chance to make things right with the clientele we’ve lost over the years, and we apologize to them.”

The Gate’s unconventional Celebration

The advertising firm chose the unorthodox celebration as a fun approach to bring attention to the event without taking it too seriously, according to David Bernstein, the chief creative officer at The Gate New York.

“We were aware of The Gate’s historic past. But it only really became apparent how many well-known clients we’ve worked with over the years after doing some in-depth investigation. This made us wonder how we might get them back.”

“Since you don’t get briefs like these every day, turning 150 is noteworthy,” he says. But agencies frequently take themselves too seriously. The Gate team conducted “an awful lot of research,” consulting with the Advertising Association, the Smithsonian, the New York Public Library, and the New York Historical Society to verify the agency’s origin and history. According to Bernstein, the Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies is now nearly memorized by the company’s new business researcher Lisa.

Scott Paper, Cartier, and Inglenook Wines have not responded to the company’s apologies. “Instead of merely giving ourselves a pat on the back,” Bernstein explains, “we wanted to develop something that resonated with our own sense of humor and that would put a smile on the face of others.”

About The Gate

The Gate started as Mandel and Frank back in 1872. It’s the second-oldest agency still in business in the US. It is also part of the worldwide creative and IT group MSQ. 

State Street Global Advisors, Nasdaq, BHP, Crowdstreet, and National Grid are some of the company’s clients.