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M&C Saatchi, facing a review of its InStyle magazine business by

IPC, is taking on the creative assignment for Cosmopolitan, one of the

title's biggest rivals.

The agency has been briefed to produce press and poster advertising to

coincide with Cosmopolitan's 30th birthday edition, which will appear

next week. Jeremy Sinclair, one of the founding partners of M&C Saatchi,

wrote Cosmopolitan's 1972 launch commercial which first set out its now

familiar offering of beauty advice, shopping and sex.

Meanwhile, IPC, InStyle's publisher, is inviting its roster agencies,

Roose & Partners, Farm and Walsh Trott Chick Smith, to battle for its

business. But it has not ruled out the possibility that M&C Saatchi,

which had handled InStyle on a project basis, might repitch.

The marketing director of IPC Southbank, Helen Farquhar, said: "As the

agency which launched the magazine we would like to invite it to repitch

provided there is no conflict with Cosmopolitan."

The future of the media assignment, handled by Mediaedge:CIA, is

uncertain. MediaCom handles all IPC's media planning and buying.

M&C Saatchi's irreverant TV campaign for InStyle, featuring a woman

smearing jam over her face and sticking her head in a bowl of cereal,

has attracted criticism since its debut a year ago.

The agency struck up a relationship with Cosmopolitan through its Talk

PR subsidiary which was already working with the magazine on its 30th

birthday activity.

Nick Hurrell, the agency's joint chief executive, said: "The work we

have done will run into the summer and will be ongoing."