Joan Randall Agency’s Jim Whelan To Be At The Toronto Film Festival

Advertising iconoclast and maverick Jim “Cowboy” Whelan, CEO and President of The Joan Randall Agency of Palm Beach, FL, will be meeting with clients and potential clients at the Four Season Hotel in Toronto September 7th through the 11th.

Palm Beach, FL (PRWEB) September 1, 2006 -- Reporters from television, radio, newspapers and magazines have all written articles about the sign carrying cowboy. He has been covered locally by the Palm Beach Post in his cowboy regalia, wearing a fur length fur coat in the summer, and in an elephant costume.

He has been in so many television background shots that camera and crew members know him by name, and even suggest where he can position himself for more coverage.

I never would have believed I’d be doing business with a guy who held up a sign wearing an elephant costume, but he put my company on the map. He’s the real deal, and you can take his advice to the bank.

He has injected himself, and his signs, in the middle of national political debates, award ceremonies; including the Academy Awards, and many large regional events. At the Academy Awards, a movie studio vice president stopped to chat as he walked down the red carpet, and days later became a client.

Whelan started his agency only a few years ago with a desk, a phone bank, an internet yellow pages directory and a dream. His goal: To build the largest advertising agency in the history of the world, and surpass Bill Gates in personal wealth. That’s a tall order, but he’s on his way, having signed a half dozen extremely large accounts this year alone, one of whom mistakenly dialed his number trying to reach another client in Seattle.

Whelan appeared with one of his signs in the spring on FOX News, protesting at the trial of 9-11 terrorist Zacharias Moussaoui.

He and one of his signs were covered again at this years Academy Awards, and he is planning more events to appear at all the time. His signs usually have a message, such as “Clint Eastwood For President!” which he used at the Academy Awards; but underneath carry the name of a client.

It’s unusual, but it works, sometimes getting huge results for no cost except the sign. Whelan says, “It’s just a little something extra for my clients, and I get to meet a lot of great people, who really enjoy what I’m doing.

One of his clients, who preferred to remain anonymous said, “I never would have believed I’d be doing business with a guy who held up a sign wearing an elephant costume, but he put my company on the map. He’s the real deal, and you can take his advice to the bank.”

If you happen to be in Toronto in early September, (7 through 11) and are wandering about the film festival, don’t be surprised to see a cowboy in a full length fur coat, and big black hat, carrying a sign. Stop and say hello.

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