12 days of Christmas: Top five most read articles in 2010

The most read story of the year came as a bitter fight erupted between Reckitt and the advertising industry in June, following the consumer goods company's decision to impose a pitch fee for its media buying business.

The company was asking agencies up to US$10,000 to pitch, as well as compensation deals for subsequent drops in TV ratings and the payment of commissions for the first 12 to 18 months of the business.

The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) advised agencies against pitching for the account. At the time it was believed that up to ten agencies were involved in the boycott, including MPG, GroupM, OMD, Lodestar, Madison, Mudra Max and Prachar.

The second most read story came at the expense of Jeffrey Yu's departure from Bates 141 after 25 years. In October the chairman confirmed he had been asked to leave following what he describes as disagreements of the agency's future.

Yu's long serving career at Bates 141 began back in 1985. A company statement issued at the time said, "Ever the restless agent, he leaves to pursue other interests."

In August this year, news came that Asia-Pacific CEO Maggie Choi announced her departure from OMD after 13 years with the company, resulting in the third most read story of 2010.

Choi is one of the founding members of OMD in the region and ran OMD Greater China before being given the OMD Asia-Pacific remit in 2008. She left the company on 1 November.

At the time Barry Cupples, OMG Asia-Pacific CEO, said he would be adding additional OMD regional responsibilities to his role. 

When BBH and Levi's decided to end their 28-year relationship, readers flocked online for the details that became the fourth most read story this year.  At the time, BBH said it proposed to Levi's that it was time for the two companies to move on, a proposal Levi's agreed to.

John Anderson, president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co, confirmed the news in his quote, "Both teams decided that it's the right time to end our partnership."

BBH rolled out its final global campaign for the iconic denim brand in August. 

And finally, reported all the way from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa during June, the tournament organisers cracked down on Bavaria by filing a civil case for an ambush marketing stunt. 

It all began when a 36-strong group of women dressed in orange mini-dresses was spotted in the crowd at the Holland-Denmark game. The dresses are associated with the lager brand as they were given out free with packs of Bavaria beer in Holland at the time. FIFA made it clear that it is against its regulations to promote any brands other than official sponsors during the World Cup games.

The same beer company reportedly pulled a similar stunt in the 2006 World Cup in Germany when a group of Dutch fans supporting Holland wore orange lederhosen advertising the beer brand. The fans were subsequently asked to strip if they wished to continue watching their team play.

Asked in a poll how they think FIFA should react to the ambush marketing effort, the majority of Campaign Asia-Pacific readers said they should ignore it and stop generating free press.