Bono of contention over 'Guardian' ad campaign

CITY DIARY

Creative tensions in the highly strung world of advertising where one of the country's top directors of pop videos is accusing the Guardian newspaper and its agency of piracy. The director, Mark Neale, is noted for his work with U2 and is claiming the Guardian's current television campaign to be a "blatant steal'' of earlier work he did for the Irish musicians. He is demanding immediate satisfaction from the paper and its agency, Leagas Delaney, and has enlisted the support of Bono and the other band members.

The contretemps developed after the video director presented a show reel to the Guardian's agency, which was doing the groundwork for the paper's new commercial. He alleges that the creative team then "ripped off'' bits of the reel (which included scenes from U2's Channel 4 special) and accuses it of "outright theft of intellectual property''.

Not that our video director knew anything about it. Until, that is, he saw the Guardian advertisement on television and was overcome by a sudden feeling of deja vu (allegedly).

U2's view is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but they have nevertheless given their blessing to any action to redress the alleged plagiarism.

The inaugural expletive in the hallowed pages of the Financial Times did not make it past the second edition yesterday. The offending "f'' word was swiftly removed from an interview with Kelvin Mackenzie, head of broadcasting at the Mirror Group, leaving most readers unaware of just how hilarious the former Sun editor finds the news bulletins on his TV station. Those who bought the earlier editions were left in absolutely no doubt that the colourfully spoken Mr Mackenzie found the bulletins very hilarious indeed. However, readers of the later editions were treated to the sanitised: "It is hilarious. You can't watch the news because you laugh so much.''

The missing expletive was probably borrowed by the night editor who discovered the original piece.

Election fever at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (zzzzz), where Sheila Masters, a partner with KPMG, is again standing for the office of vice president One of the great and the good in the public sector, Ms Masters is making much of her "numerous government contacts'' and her membership of the Court of the Bank of England.

Such is her profile that it was remarked during her last campaign that the institute vice presidency would be a "bit of a step down for her given that she is already running the country.''

Tuesday night's party to celebrate the demise of the Central Statistics Office was buzzing with the Deputy Prime Minister's gaffe in leaking the employment figures. The number crunchers now agree that Michael Heseltine should be struck off the advance circulation list of the new Office for National Statistics forthwith.

The Granada camp is incensed at the heavy influence being wielded by the Forte family with its friends in the fourth estate. Advisers to the leisure group complain that its pounds 3.8bn bid for Forte is being undermined by a press campaign led by the London Evening Standard , whose new editor, Max Hastings, is a shooting buddy of Sir Rocco Forte.

"That is just the half of it,'' complains one adviser. "We have also had hostile pieces by William Shawcross in the Financial Times (married to Sir Rocco's sister, Olga Polizzi) and by Henry Porter in the Daily Telegraph (a good friend of Ms Polizzi).''

Time for Gerry Robinson to marry a journalist.