Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.
(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A Plagiarism On Both Your Houses!

When I was in advertising, I was exposed to a lot of award-winning ads from all over the world.

This is Manny Villar’s ad “Scroll”:



First time I saw it, I already felt uncomfortable. I knew I saw a very similar ad from before. This was confirmed when I saw The Daily Tribute online article.

This political advertisement from Argentina won the silver lion in the Cannes Lions Contest 2006:



Is it plagiarism? A big, fat CHECK! The execution—scroll down, then reverse to scroll up—is exactly the same, while the message is very similar (except for a change in language). Add to the fact that the two ads are in the same category (political/public awareness), and the inevitable conclusion is that it’s unlikely that the similarities can be chalked up to mere coincidence. The team that created Manny’s ad had committed a mortal sin in the advertising world.

So what’s wrong if it’s not an original idea? It’s intellectually dishonest. It’s a stolen idea and execution. So it appears that there are members of Manny’s team who do not mind being lazy at their jobs. If that’s the kind of company Manny keeps, then good luck to us all if he wins.

That’s why I’m sure I won’t vote for him.

* * * * *

Several weeks ago it was Manny Pangilinan and his speech to the graduates. That makes it two Mannys stealing other people’s stuff. Pacquiao, our eyes are on you!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

nagexplain na yung ad agency behind manny's ad. they said that they are the same agency that created the ad in argentina. they just re-used the concept which is okay naman daw since it's within their own agency.

now my question is, valid ba yung explanation?

~Carrie~ said...

Manny Pacquiao is original. Lahat ng punchlines and jokes nya, sya lang ang makakagawa. Hehehe

Felipe said...

LOL @ Pacquiao, our eyes are on you!

"....you know."

Tristan Tan said...

Wow. Double check!

Basta ako, dilaw ang boto ko.

joelmcvie said...

@DAREDEVILRY: Ugh, what a TAMAD agency then. Seriously, the campaign belongs to their Argentinian client. To re-use the same exact concept on another politician running for president is like saying, "Okay, let's use the Langhap-Sarap campaign on Tropical Hut naman because we thought of that campaign."

Sino itong ad agency na ito?! ANG CHEAP NILA!

rudeboy said...

Well, well! How about THAT? We were just talking about this affront to creativity and decency over lunch earlier, Joel.

And since I share your contempt and disdain for lazy "creatives," I was told the authors of this plague-arism are TBWA.

Some agencies must really want Villar to win so they can enjoy that European trip bonus, eh.

joelmcvie said...

@RUDEBOY: I'm sure bayad na ang TBWA. They took the money and ran. At ok lang kay Villar yun. Is that the kind of president we'll have if he wins?

Leo said...

i don't like Villar too! he's spending a lot in advertisements which only create impact to kids.

Guyrony said...

Hehe,down there Macavie.

Pacquiao will always be D'Original.

And as to the ad agency, yes, they truly are cheap and where' the brain power?

imsonotconio said...

i love pacquiao hehe

Anonymous said...

ahaha... you might wanna ask around, i'm sure you can find out kung sinong agency ito. :)

joelmcvie said...

@DAREDEVILRY: No need to ask around. By looking at the credits of the Argentinian ad on YouTube, plus Rudeboy's comments, one can easily find out that the agency is TBWA.

iurico said...

Omigosh! And I was praising the people behind the advertisement for coming up with one that I thought was creativity at its best! I didnt have a single clue that it was a rip off of an original political ad.

Surely this must've Villar's approval before it was played all over the airwaves. And if he had approved, he isn't any wiser than the copycats who've produced this.

Gawd, and to think Villar scored some points with me because of this ad! ugh!

funny Pacquiao comment. haha