COI gives youth a chance in its new fantasy league.(Brief Article)

COI's new roster of young turks and old masters has some notable omissions

by our Parliamentary correspondent

The new roster of above-the-line agencies assembled by the Government's COI Communications reads like an advertiser's dream team. In many ways, this isn't surprising: COI has the pull necessary to assemble the widest possible range of talent without the usual constraints of client conflict.

"It's like being allowed to pick any player in the world for your football team, with no restrictions," one insider at COI says.

The six new players on the team can look forward to pitching for a slice of the 192 million [pounds sterling] that the Government currently spends on advertising each year, while the six agencies dropped from the side -- TBWA\London, CDP, The Leith, Golley Slater, Cogent and …