Legendary ad agency D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, which created the image of Santa Claus as we know him today, will soon down its shutters.

French owner Publicis Groupe SA has blamed the global recession saying it cannot afford to keep running the struggling 96 year old shop of DMBB, once a frontrunner in its class. DMBB was the agency that created the rotund, red coated Santa in 1934 for cola giant Coca Cola. Its closure was the obvious choice for Publicis as the agency was made out to be the weakest of its subsidiaries.

DMBB was the result of one of the largest ad agency mergers of its day, when in 1985, Benton & Bowles and D'Arcy-MacManus & Masius joined hands to create a new agency. In India, DMBB first joined forces with Madison, but the agency came under Publicis India's wing later.

D'Arcy had fathered Santa's image for Coke, as well fostered the Budweiser slogan "This Bud's for you," and M&M's "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. "Benton & Bowles was responsible for Mr Whipple for Charmin toilet paper, and introduced Ivory, Crest and Pampers.

The agency shutdown comes just one month after the French acquired the shop in a $3 billion deal that also gave them Leo Burnett Advertising, the Chicago powerhouse that created the Jolly Green Giant and the Marlboro Man, say reports. Burnett will absorb staff and accounts from the closed shop, reports indicate.

Publicis, currently ranked world's number four agency group, has been struggling for profits as clients have cut back advertising spending in the global recession. The French company's profit rose just two per cent in the first half of the year.D'Arcy had fathered Santa's image for Coke, as well fostered the Budweiser slogan "This Bud's for you," and M&M's "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. "Benton & Bowles was responsible for Mr Whipple for Charmin toilet paper, and introduced Ivory, Crest and Pampers.

The agency shutdown comes just one month after the French acquired the shop in a $3 billion deal that also gave them Leo Burnett Advertising, the Chicago powerhouse that created the Jolly Green Giant and the Marlboro Man, say reports. Burnett will absorb staff and accounts from the closed shop, reports indicate.

Publicis, currently ranked world's number four agency group, has been struggling for profits as clients have cut back advertising spending in the global recession. The French company's profit rose just two per cent in the first half of the year.