"The US Army has implemented a new six-month contract with advertising firm Leo Burnett USA," Army spokesman Paul Boyce said. "The decision made today was in the best interest of the US Army," he said, without giving further details.
In October, the Army said it plans to step up recruitment efforts to meet a goal of signing up 80,000 new soldiers for the regular Army and 22,000 for the Army Reserve during its current fiscal year, even as casualties mount in Iraq as well as Afghanistan.
The renewal gives Leo Burnett, part of Publicis Groupe, a reprieve from a contest to defend the account. The Army had been expected to announce a winner this week for a one-year contract, with four years' worth of renewal options, estimated at over $1 billion in total.
Leo Burnett has handled the account for nearly five years, creating the tagline, "An Army of One."
The agency was competing against Omnicom Group's BBDO, Interpublic's McCann Erickson, Grey Global's Grey and WPP agencies Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather. The future of the account review was not immediately clear.