Breakups aren’t always done cleanly. They can be completely one-sided or mutual. They can be obvious from a mile away or come as a complete surprise. In the ad industry, they are common—and seemed especially so this year as one agency’s ex-client became another agency’s honeymoon partner. Here are the 12 agency breakups that stood out in 2021.

Audi and Venables Bell + Partners

In September, Audi put its U.S creative account into review. A month later, Paul Venables, founder and chairman of Venables Bell & Partners, which held the automaker’s account for 14 years, announced during an Advertising Week panel that the agency was not going to participate in the pitch. 

Read more: Venables Bell & Partners offers to be your agency of record for $20

“Sometimes you have to look somebody in the eye and tell them 'We don’t think this is the right fit,'” said Venables, who didn’t rule out the possibility of the agency working with the brand again. “​​The pendulum, in this case, has swung to centralization.” This was something the agency did not believe is “the right approach for that brand in this market at this time, and it’s not necessarily what we are good at,” Venables added.

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.

Avocados from Mexico and Energy BBDO

The second entry on this list is a reunion as much as it is a breakup. Avocados From Mexico, which will be returning to the Super Bowl next year after skipping the big game this year, hired GSD&M as its agency of record without a competitive review. Energy BBDO, the creative agency behind the company's last two Super Bowl spots, had been its agency of record since 2018.

GSD&M helped put Avocados From Mexico in people’s minds with four Big Game campaigns beginning in 2015. Each year, the brand used humor and celebrity appearances to promote the use of avocados.

“Avocados from Mexico has long focused on delivering fun, innovative creative while building a brand in a brandless category. We’re so proud to continue our partnership with GSD&M and we can’t wait to deliver more buzzworthy moments to come,” Kevin Hamilton, senior director of marketing, head of brand, media and PR at Avocados From Mexico, said in a February statement.

CPB and … (almost) everybody

Following a year in which the MDC (now Stagwell Group) agency lost its Domino's account to WorkInProgress, a shop founded by ex-CPBers, the Denver-based agency experienced even more significant account losses.

In March, Nissan-owned Infiniti selected Publicis Groupe to handle global creative for the brand following an eight-month agency review. CPB previously held the account since 2014 although it was briefly demoted in 2017, when Infiniti turned to holding company sibling 72andSunny to handle several global vehicle launches. CPB regained its lead status in May 2018.

In June, after an eight-year run, Hotels.com left the agency, which created the iconic Captain Obvious spokesman character. While the brand hasn’t chosen a new lead agency, it released a campaign by Tombras in August that featured the spokesman. 

Fruit of the Loom also moved on from CPB after a nearly decade-long relationship, and hired Texas-based GSD&M as its creative and media agency of record. Notably, Marianne Malina, the former president of GSD&M, took on the role of global CEO of CPB in April.

Eli Lilly and OMD

In November, Eli Lilly moved its U.S media account to Publicis’ Zenith, which concluded the drug maker's nearly 20-year relationship with Omnicom’s OMD Worldwide. OMD was a finalist in the pitch, which started in June, and WPP and Dentsu also participated in the review, Ad Age reported.

Read more: IFit chooses OMD to handle its U.S. media business

Eli Lilly is the maker of drugs like the antidepressants Prozac and Cymbalta and the diabetes drug Trulicity. The pharmaceutical giant had disclosed 2020 worldwide ad spending of $1.1 billion, primarily for TV, radio, print media, and internet advertising. Ad Age Datacenter estimates the U.S. portion of that spending to be $869 million. It's said Eli Lilly will likely be looking to increase its ad spending moving forward.

Read more: TikTok sends global media buying business to Zenith

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Hershey and UM

In April, Hershey Co. picked Horizon Media as the media agency of record for its U.S. confectionery business, moving from Interpublic Group of Cos.' UM, which won Hershey’s global media business in 2013. Dentsu's Accordant Media, which had also handled certain digital duties, is no longer working on Hershey’s media business. 

The six-month review covered all paid media, including linear, digital, social, programmatic and retailer, for the company’s candy, mint and gum businesses in the U.S., including brands such as Hershey’s, Ice Breakers, Jolly Rancher, Reese’s and Twizzlers. It did not include media for Amplify Foods, home to Pirate’s Booty and SkinnyPop, protein bar unit One Brands or international markets. 

Read more: Horizon Media sells a minority stake, bringing on outside investors for the first time

IHOP and Droga5

Earlier this month, IHOP put its creative account into review. Incumbent Droga5 will not be defending.

“We could not be prouder of all we have accomplished together over the past four years—the results we’ve achieved and the outstanding work we’ve made by flipping expectations across the IHOP business,” said a spokesman for Droga5. “It’s clear that this is a time of transition for the new marketing team, and we agree that it would be best for them to do that with a different partner. We wish them nothing but the pancaking best.”

Read more: Droga5 promotes three key executives amid global expansion

While the relationship with Ad Age’s Agency of the Decade was only a few years long, Droga5 was responsible for the restaurant’s chain’s temporary name change to IHOB in 2018 which garnered headlines.

JetBlue and MullenLowe

In May, JetBlue decided to part ways with Mullen Lowe after 11 years with the agency. The agency was responsible for some notable work for the brand, including Pie in the Sky and a campaign that offered free flights for Christmas. Following a review that started in November 2020, the airline chose Adam&Eve/DDB as its new agency.

KFC and Wieden+Kennedy

In September, KFC started two separate reviews for its media and creative accounts. The incumbent, Wieden+Kennedy Portland, held the account since 2015 and is no longer participating in the review, although the food brand invited the agency to defend the account.

The review—one of Ad Age's 12 biggest ad reviews of the year—came at a time when both KFC and W+K were going through executive changes. 

In June, W+K parted ways with Eric Baldwin, who had been one of the creative leads on KFC. At the same time, the agency announced that it had hired Ana and Hermeti Balarin, the Brazilian husband-and-wife duo who steered creative at Mother London. The Balarins, who joined W+K in October, had made a big mark with their own KFC campaigns at Mother such as the “FCK” apology ad following a local chicken shortage. On the same day the KFC review was reported, the agency also announced that JP Petty, head of social media at W+K’s New York office, had stepped up into the role of executive creative director in its Portland office.

Then, during the review, the Yum Brands chain brought on Nintendo veteran Nick Chavez as its chief marketing officer. One of the questions raised throughout the process has been the likelihood that the finger lickin' good chicken brand would keep its Colonel Sanders character moving forward. Stay tuned.

Read more: Will Colonel Sanders survive KFC’s marketing overhaul?

Richards Group and Home Depot

While the split between The Richards Group and Home Depot was announced in 2020 following a racist remark made by the agency’s founder during a meeting with Motel 6, the brand’s new agency was decided this year. Following a six-month review, the retailer chose BBDO as its new creative agency of record after 25 years of working with Richards. Earlier this year, Home Depot also appointed OMD as its media agency of record.

Read more: The University of Texas keeps Stan Richards' name on its advertising school

Read more: Reactions to the Stan Richards School of Advertising keeping its name: Agency Brief

Read more: How has The Richards Group changed in the last 10 months?

T.J. Maxx and Grey

In August, retailer T.J. Maxx named MullenLowe, Boston as its new creative agency of record following a review conducted by SRI Consulting. In June, it was reported the home goods and clothing retailer parted ways with its previous agency partner, Grey Group, which didn’t participate in the pitch. The pair had worked together for 12 years. This was a reunion for MullenLowe and Framingham, Mass.-based TJMaxx, which worked together for nearly a decade before splitting up in 2009.

Read more: Grey hires New York Times exec to lead New York office

The Truth Initiative and 72andSunny

In May, anti-smoking group the Truth Initiative brought on Mojo Supermarket as its creative partner and agency of record, moving from 72andSunny, which held the account for seven years.

72andSunny created some memorable campaigns for the organization, including its 2014 “Finish it” campaign, which called on teens to be the generation that “ends smoking,” and “The Truth About Opioids” campaign, which included an Emmy winning 6-minute film that documents the journey of Rebekkah, a 26-year-old heroin and opioid addict, as she experiences withdrawals during her detox from those drugs.

Read More: ​​Mojo Supermarket wins online reseller Stockx and brings on new talent

Mojo’s first campaign for the organization launched in September and included a hidden-camera style spot in which an actor playing a marketing executive for a new vaping product company approaches gas station owners to sell “Depression Sticks.”

Read more: Call of Duty Warzone’s 'Squad up the World' campaign brings the game to life in star-studded blockbuster

United Airlines and Dentsu

In May, United Airlines hired 72andSunny as its global creative agency of record following a review that started last February. The airline had been working with DentsuMcGarryBowen, which participated in the review, since 2011. 

“We’ve spent the last year facing down the most disruptive crisis in our history by innovating at a record pace to better serve our customers under extraordinary circumstances—and our approach has set up United Airlines to emerge as the global leader in our industry,” the airline said in a statement after the decision was made.

See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here.