We’d like to congratulate Ackerman McQueen on scoring a prized ”Making Out Like Bandits After Losing Our Biggest Client” Gold Addy Award.
Earlier this week, The Trace reported that Ackerman McQueen received a $12-million settlement from the NRA last year to conclude their long and lengthy legal firefight.
If you remember correctly, Ackerman – the agency that helped shape and guide the NRA’s vitriolic image and communications strategy over the decades, oversaw the launch of NRA TV, and contributed to the rise of mass shootings across America – was sued by the NRA back for something like $50-million back in 2019 alleging breach of contract and all that fun stuff.
Ackerman then countersued and the two groups went to the courts. We’ll let The Trace take it from there::
Each side was seeking more than $50 million in damages when a confidential settlement was reached in March 2022, shortly before the case was scheduled to go to trial in a federal court in Texas.
The parties have kept silent on settlement details. And the NRA’s outside counsel is seeking to scrub settlement information from a forensic auditor’s report that New York Attorney General Letitia James recently filed in her lawsuit against the group. The report, currently viewable to the public, states that the case ended “with the NRA paying Ackerman $12 million in settlement funds.”
Yeah, I guess I should formally apologize to Ackerman McQueen.
When I covered the lawsuit back in 2019 and 2020, I used clickbait headlines like “Ackerman McQueen is screwed” and “R.I.P. NRATV… and possibly Ackerman McQueen,” yet here they are, still ticking and producing average work.
Although you still have to question their long-term survival and local relevance – from what I’ve heard, CEO Revan McQueen primarily uses the agency as his personal music studio, and they now either employ or work with Hinder frontman Austin Winkler – any agency that can survive losing their top client and score $12-million in the process deserves a “TLO Attaboy.”
Hell, they even survived the fiery lawsuit filed by Tammy Payne. It’s like they’re invincible or something.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
