Earlier this month, Omnicom Group agreed to buy Interpublic Group in a deal that will create the world’s largest advertising company with more than 100,000 employees and nearly A$40.12 billion in yearly revenue.

As ChanelNews reported recently, the Omnicom-Interpublic deal is a major PR and advertising shakeup for several big CE and appliance brands and a move that will challenge WPP, the owner of Ogilvy & Mather and their Ogilvy PR operations in Australia.

The merged entity would include clients such as Apple, Mastercard, LG Electronics and Panasonic. Currently, Interpublic and WPP are struggling to keep pace with rival Publicis, which adapted faster to the technological shifts that reshaped how brands connect with consumers. Publicis list Samsung as one of their clients via Leo Burnett.

However, the merger is now being investigated. US Rep. Jim Jordan has launched a probe into the merger of two advertising giants over their ties to an anti-conservative cartel that sought to defund news outlets, reported The Post.

 

The House Judiciary Committee chairman sent letters to the CEOs of Omnicom and Interpublic Group — which were founding members of the left-leaning World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative — as part of an antitrust investigation.

The committee ordered the companies to preserve documents and all contact with the WFA and GARM and provide information to the House.

The committee is investigating whether the major merger would crush competition, especially among conservative voices.

GARM reportedly claimed that right-leaning platforms spread “so-called harmful content” and deprived them of advertising revenue by badmouthing them to more than 40 major companies including Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel CVS and General Motors.

GARM allegedly instructed companies to direct ad dollars away from right-leaning news outlets including The Post and Fox News, both of which are owned by News Corp.

The investigating committee has requested the replies to their letters be sent to them by January 7.