When MiC got wind that Wal-Mart USA was taking its $570-mil account to Interpublic Group’s DraftFCB and Aegis Group’s Carat, we immediately got on the horn to Wal-Mart Canada’s director of corporate affairs Kevin Groh.

Any such switcheroo being contemplated up here, we asked. Au contraire, he replied. ‘Marketing and advertising decisions are made independently from the US here (and) we’ve been pleased with the work of our agencies. So we don’t have any plans for change.’ Which means that for the foreseeable future, Publicis will remain Wal-Mart Canada’s AOR nationwide, and Allard Johnson for its French-language communications, while ZenithOptimedia will continue handling its media.