WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell is now resorting to a kind of name calling in his continuing pursuit of audience measurement firm Taylor Nelson Sofres, which is trying to fend off his advances by merging with German rival GfK. The merger is seen as a defence tactic but Sorrell tells The Guardian: “Mergers of equals don’t really work. Mergers of equals tend to be the two drunkards being propped up by the lamp-post. They haven’t even examined our proposal. They are, I think, prejudiced - for whatever reason - against engaging with us.”

Meantime, what does the boss of one of the big six advertising agencies think of the economic outlook? “I am still not sure there will be a recession in the US and I definitely don’t think worldwide.”

And more on his favourite topic, Google: “They do keep me awake at night. They have two thirds of the revenues (of the ad business) and their market cap is almost four times bigger than the top four advertising companies. The market is saying something about our relative strengths.”

• TNS Seals GfK Merger, Forcing WPP’s Hand On Expected Third Offer