Commentary

Real Media Riffs - Tuesday, Oct 25, 2005

  • by October 25, 2005
IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF ADVERTISING -- So, let's get this straight. iPod, a device that is helping to propagate America's rip-and-tear culture, has been accused of ripping a tearsheet out of another advertiser's playbook? Specifically, an ad created by Apple iPod agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, has ripped off an ad created by Interpublic's Avrett Free unit for footwear marketer Lugz? At least that's what Avrett Free chief Frank Ginsberg claimed in Stuart Elliott's ad column in today's New York Times. We have to admit the two campaigns look striking similar in their shadowy, high-contrast executions. But so what? Have we reached the point where advertising, the great borrower of other people's cultures, is so guarded as to resent the borrowing from within its own culture? That seems to be the case, according to Mr. Ginsberg, who invoked the obligatory "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" reference in his Times' comments, but went on to assert, "But sometimes, imitation crosses the line." Since when?

advertisement

advertisement

Some of the greatest ads we've ever seen are nothing but a creative synthesis of other people's works, and it's something that Apple, in particular, has been a leader in. Ever hear of the computer maker's "1984" spot. The one that's atop many ad industry observer's favorite campaigns of all times lists, including Ad Age critic and erstwhile MediaPost conference keynote giver Bob Garfield's. Well, we hate to spoil it for you, but that spot was actually lifted from an idea developed by futuristic novelist George Orwell. In fact, his novel was called "1984." It aired just once, during the 1984 Super Bowl, launched Apple's Macintosh line of computers, and is still regarded as one of Madison Avenue's greatest mash-ups, er, commercials, of all times. You didn't see George Orwell complaining about that one did you? What's that? Orwell was dead. Well, we doubt he would have, even he was alive. And if you believe that, you'll probably believe that pigs can talk.

Appropriation isn't anything new in the ad world. Nor are complaints from some creative genius that his or her masterpiece has been lifted by a rival. TBWA's protests to the contrary, we're sure that they were. At least implicitly, of not explicitly. What we mean by that is that advertising seeps so quickly into popular culture that it begins to infect everything around it, including other advertising that itself is influenced by popular culture. At least that's what our art director friends tell us when suddenly there is a groundswell of activity of art directors all using he same font, or color palette, or some other design scheme that can only be explained as being a case of spontaneous mass ripping off. Either that, or they've all suddenly tapped into the same cultural nerve that says lime green is suddenly the new black.

Of course, it is possible that some art director was toiling away on the iPod account into the wee hours of a new campaign deadline when he or she suddenly stumbled across the Lugz ad and thought, "Professional ethics be damned, I'm lifting this puppy and no one will know the better of it." We doubt that. But let say for the sake of argument that that's what actually happened. Or even if it didn't. Why doesn't TBWA and Apple simply come out and say, "Yeah, we ripped it. So what?" Yeah, you're probably right, it would make headlines on the cover of Ad Age. It would force Stuart Elliott to write another column. And it would create the source of endless banter and counter-banter on industry blogs. And, okay, so it might even spark a wee bit of litigation. But it would also serve as a sublime branding statement for a brand whose fundamental promise is at least in some part related to ripping content.

Alright, so we're not about to see that happen. But we can almost envision a legion of diehard iPod fans seizing control of this situation, and mixing their own brandcasts mashing iPods and Lugz. In one version, you might even see a fusion of the two brands in a new consumer-generated podmercial in which someone oddly resembling the late actor Don Adams bends over to plug a set of unmistakable white earbuds into the sole of his Lugz boots.

Next story loading loading..