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When ad agencies take it upon themselves to entertain the press,

they will often go to any lengths to impress us. And we're not just

talking about champagne, caviar or even displays of flowers and, er,

vegetables, as seen at a recent D'Arcy jaunt. No, we've also been up in

the London Eye, tasted fine wines at Vinopolis and viewed art at the

Tate.

But last week's outing with Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters showed just what

lengths agencies will go to in order to show us that their campaigns are

working.

First, we were shown to the blacked-out limo, then quaffed champagne on

our journey ... to Cricklewood, where we trooped into the Beacon Bingo

Hall.

There, we found an impressive sea of punters, particularly in view of

the fact it was a wet, dank Thursday night. DFGW's recently awarded

mission to improve bingo's image must be working, because the place,

enormous in itself, was packed out.

Our party of total novices was regarded with suspicion by the regulars,

as we struggled to understand our pens and cards and went on to make

embarrassing erroneous calls.

Luckily the DFGW crew were on hand to explain the rules. Jason Lord,

account director on the National Bingo Game Association, proved so

skilled he pocketed £30. (Is that allowed? Ed).

The entire party became so addicted that we refused to leave on time,

despite the promise of a posh meal in Soho.

So, next time Marketing gets a glamorous agency invite, we might not be

able to go. No, you've got to go to Beacon five days out of ten in order

to win the barbecue tools prize.