VODAPHONEY?
Comparison of NE-O's Futureshock video and Vodafone's Freedom TVC via Lowe.
posted by CB at 11/06/2006 06:10:00 pm
Monday, November 06, 2006
Comparison of NE-O's Futureshock video and Vodafone's Freedom TVC via Lowe.
Essential Links
- Campaign Brief Blog
- Best Ads on TV
- AWARD
- D&AD
- Cannes Lions
- Clio
- Andy Awards
- The One Show
- YoungGuns International Awards
- Miami Ad School
- NZ Axis Awards
- MADC Awards
- Adland
- Saatchi New Directors Showcase
- Luerzer's Archive
- Adforum
- Adcritic
- Adbusters
- FBI Recruitment
- 3rd Eye
- Brand Republic
- Shots
- Advertising Age
- Adweek
53 Comments:
Shammmmmeeeeeeee.
6:45 pm NZDT
"Firstly, in my opinion anyway, the...Blog celebrates cowardice and, worse still, positively encourages bitchiness...Well, look for yourself. How much of any issue on the Blog is debated with objectivity, wit or constructiveness? An easier calculation would be how much of it is puerile, misinformed, inarticulate ping-pong, played out by a lucky few juniors, unencumbered by the necessity to work more than 2hours a day? And it goes far beyond inane, but essentially harmless banter." as per Nobay's comment
7:06 pm NZDT
nice one josh
7:38 pm NZDT
7:06 PM - I wholeheartedly agree with that.
8:29 pm NZDT
7:06PM - I may agree with you, if I knew what the fuck you were trying to say.
10:51 pm NZDT
Seams a bit similar.
But maybe it's ok. Debate anyone?
9:16 am NZDT
just a bit?
9:59 am NZDT
Nothing wrong with taking reference from a video clip. Our job as advertisers is not to come up with things that are new, but to show things people have seen before in new ways i.e. to show how liquid dancing relates to freedom to move with a vodem. This is good advertising in my book.
But having said that, I'm not sure why they didn't change the locations of the people doing the liquiding from the video clip. It would have been easy enough to do and would not have adversely affected the ad. Seems a touch lazy.
Moose
10:07 am NZDT
It'd be interesting to take that youtube vid to an IP lawyer and get their opinion on it. On a secondary note, whoever made that youtube vid has a lot of spare time of their hands.
10:16 am NZDT
i don't agree that juniors only work '2hrs' a day. What a load of Ivory tower dribble. I know when I was a junior, all the CD's were out having loooong lunches and clocking up thousand dollar lunch tabs on the company, while we were scabbing food out of the kitchen cos they weren't paying us squat. Not to mention all the late nights.
But as for the vodafone spot....yes it is inspired from the music video. But creatives have been pilaging, stealing and have been "inspired" from everywhere since...yeah, enough from me.
11:39 am NZDT
yeah, the music is exactly the same. Disgraceful.
12:12 pm NZDT
It's reasonable to point out that Vodafone is increasingly eroding Telecom's market share.
Telecom is a Saatchi client.
We are really happy with our work for Vodafone, best of luck with yours,
Josh
12:39 pm NZDT
Far more damning is the Vodafone 'Best mates - Little People' spot which seems to be lifted directly from an Atlantic Telecom ad on the latest Shots real (97).
What's the story behind this?
12:51 pm NZDT
Can I just change the subject for a second here...
What the fuck's up with all the "target market" ads on at the moment?? Westapc, National Bank, new Telecom...
They all smack of the client have far too much input in the casting process.
To use the Westpac one as an example: Could we fit any more minorities in please? Gay couple. Tick. Chinese New Zealanders with Kiwi accents and kids who have to work hard and are probably whipped when they get their scales wrong. Tick. Someone who's chucked in their job and wants to follow their heart. Tick. Girl with speech impediment. Tick.
And Telecom - Did you use all the people you rejected from the Westpac ads?? God you've even got some Emos in there!?
Must try harder. Sorry.
2:38 pm NZDT
What's the difference between using existing video in a new and relevant way and using an existing visual in a new and relevant way? How many people take a well known photo and put an ad spin on it? I've seen many in award books and no one seems to care too much. If it gets the point across and doesn't bore, I for one see know real problem with it. The idea is the freedom to move, which is sound. I'd like to see the next version or the ones that got canned. I think they could have changed it so it wasn't so obvious but good on them for being honest about their inspiration.
Maybe we should outlaw all symbols, existing photos, phrases, and prose. The truth is every new idea is something old mutated. I'd rather watch this ad then the Telecom one with the crap Beatles cover. Shame that the best mate ad is a rip, I thought that was really simple and nice.
Stealing a complete thought is different from stealing a visual mechanism.
Borat from Morewa.
2:40 pm NZDT
They should have used the 'I like the way you move' music from the Mitsubishi ad, then combined it with the video from that dance music band.
Then, hey presto, you have an ad that is 'inspired' from a real ad and a real music video. Then, you admit to it nicking both ideas, and say it's original.
This is a triumph of PR, not creativity. Draft/Lowe is yet to produce anything that rises above plain old 'alright'.
3:21 pm NZDT
I wrote some nice things on the first posting of this ad, along with quite a few other people who said it was new, different, funky etc... I’m sure Josh sat back and took all the compliments, now you can sit back and take some shit.
Everyone borrows things from different places.
The film style, pace, dancing, scenes and music for the this ad were all taken from the same place.
Embarrassing.
http://www.ne-o.co.uk/fshock.html
4:20 pm NZDT
There's inspiration, then there's blatant rip-offs. Is there anything Lowe hasn't copied yet? Wasn't Pacific Blue "Geese" blatantly copied too? We're seeing a pattern. And it's got "shame" written all over it. Hack, hack, hack. Hic.
CDW
4:37 pm NZDT
I guess it must be really hard at lowe to create new ideas. After the viral spot for Telecom was also a rip off if I remember correctly.
Craig
4:42 pm NZDT
The fact that this has happened twice.. now with the Best Mates - little people ad - makes me really worried!!
what is seriously going on?
5:40 pm NZDT
'We are really happy with our work for Vodafone'
Really?
Including the outdoor?
Pretty. Shit.
If. you. ask. me.
5:41 pm NZDT
Dear 12:51 PM NZDT
RE Shots real 97
Anyone who has ever made a TVC will know that it takes a little more than two weeks to write, sell and produce any ad let alone one of this size.
This commercial 'BestMates' was presented in January and has been in production off and on ever since.
It's nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence.
6:11 pm NZDT
Hey Al,
I think you'll find that Hamlet ad was done in 1979 by CDP, before 'the Baldy man' came out as a TV show in the late 80's/ eraly 90's. The ad inspired the show, not the other way around as you infer.
Regards,
Mr. Lameo.
6:25 pm NZDT
The ad is cool. Makes me think Vodafone is more up to the play than Telecom. Job done. I don't give a rat's ass if it's a copy.
12:56 am NZDT
Taking the time to put that clip together and post was a small and petty thing to do, if being bringing the vodafone ad down was their intention.
But if it was to inspire debate, that's a different thing.
If people didn't recycle things from one use to another, the world would be a poorer place. We wouldn't have a lot of the great rap/hip hop, because they wouldn't have sampled other songs. The Rolling stones wouldn't have played the blues, movies and songs wouldn't get remade (for better or worse) and we wouldn't have the sydney opera house (sail design). Snowboarding started as snow surfing, which came straight from surfing, so we wouldn't have that either.
Neither would we have a lot of great ads - 'cog' and the other examples mentioned in previous posts, as well as the Guinness 'Surfer' ad (there's a painting, I can't remember who by, with white horses coming out of breaking waves that inspired it).
Everything influences everything, and the transparancy of that influence is at the discretion of the creator. Creatives get paid to, among other things, build brands and help sell product, and this ad stands out against everything else in the category that's on TV in NZ - or everything else on TV in NZ right now, regardless of where it came from. And i'd be interested to know how it's going for vodafone - anyone know?
The IP lawyer comment from another post is interesting though, whether or not there would be any come back for the makers of the music video.
And no, I don't work at Lowe or the film company.
10:19 am NZDT
"Woo-sah"
Repeat after me.
11:42 am NZDT
yeah but when 'creatives' get paid f*ckloads to come up with ideas isn't it a bit wrong when they steal an idea off a music video director who probably got paid next to nothing? Earn your money I say.
11:49 am NZDT
Come on guys. With a peachy brief and a sh*tload of money to produce TV for a well-known and liked brand, copying a music video is poor form. End of story.
1:10 pm NZDT
Dear Al,
My apologies. Yeah I've just looked it up and you're right. Cheers, it's enlightened me too, as I always thought that ad was shot in the late 70's.
Mr. Lameo.
1:33 pm NZDT
Mmm 2.40 so true. Let's all talk about how crap the Telecom ad is. Mind you, no one will accuse them of having ripped the idea of because there just isn't one. Or is there? Anyone at Saatchis with a clue? Is it the squirly type? The, um, couch (no wait, that's a rip from National Bank, surely). I know, it's people! People are SO done to death. Couldn't you afford cows?
9:59 pm NZDT
Just to be even more of a pedant: photbooth was created in 1986 (one yeaqr after the sketch)
2:12 am NZDT
Hey it does make for an easy client presentation though... "Ahhh yes, here's this little animatic we put together at great expense. Because that's what we do for our clients at Lowe. With a lot more production value we can make this look really fab".
CDW
9:21 am NZDT
CDW
Who are you?
6:11 pm NZDT
I just had this idea. don't know if it's got anything in it but here it is anyway:
This week, when a lot of NZs good creative talent was over at AWARD, this blog was busy as. However today, when you little fuckers have been getting ready for a certain end of year show perhaps, its been dead.
Any thoughts?
This is what i reckon. Josh is a good dude who is trying to something good up at Lowe. It takes a lot of courage to do the job he's doing and I think he deserves the support of the industry. Or do you sincerely want to see him fail? It would be great to see Lowe as another solid NZ agency contending for awards for NZ. So instead of talking Josh down and ripping his work to pieces (one day you might experience how this feels and it sucks) how about showing us something better that you've done recently?
I'd really encourage you to let your creative work talk for itself. Here's How: You just post your best piece of student/junior work up here on the blog and I guarantee you will receive the most real critique ever. Dead serious. Put your work up here and we will see what you've got. Who knows you might get discovered by somebody famous, at the very least you will end up with some helpful advice your idea/copy/art direction won't you? The end of year show was tonight, AUT is next week, I'm assuming there's a few of you guys wanting jobs... lets see what you've got?
If I was still a student or a junior I'd see posting my scamps here as a huge opportunity to get my work in front of people. In fact you'd have to be retarded not to. And don't be scared someone's going to nick your idea because it will be etched with the date (and hopefully your real name) right next to it.
If no work get's posted It might be cos you havent got anything. In which case you could perhaps consider cooling off on your damning critiques and character assasination projects till you do.
That's pretty fair aye?
Now pull your heads in and show some respect, or I'm stopping the bloody car and you can all walk home.
Dad
Now, who wants an ice-cream...?
11:43 pm NZDT
11:43 - Stop perpetuating the arrogant stereotype creatives already have. Having been through Ad school I can assure you the last thing any of them actually do is sit around bitching about REAL work. They leave that to the sad gits who post on this site (myself included).
Where I think your idea of a blog where students/juniors can parade their work is actually a good idea – I would warn any student thinking of putting anything on this site to run the other way.
As this thread alone has shown, this blog is full with bitter and envious creatives who shake your hands and congratulate you in public, but spit venom at you behind your back.
If someone did make an online student gallery, of sorts, I would recommend any comments on their work must be signed, so the students know who to avoid in those seedy Parnell Bars.
10:39 am NZDT
Hey 11:43,
I think your comment - "someone famous" needs inverted commas.
My point is - while we in the industry think awarded creatives are famous. Nobody outside the industry does.
G. Dahlmer.
12:14 pm NZDT
Before everyone found out it was a rip off of that song people were generally nice about the Vodafone advert and happy for Josh and Lowe with the ad.
Now we've been shown the light.
So stop the car and get the fuck out we want a new driver.
1:44 pm NZDT
Dad, as someone who was at Axis adschool 4-5 years ago, I think you're seriously deluded that it is students filling up the blog with vitriol. For a start they have removed the macs from the adschool room this year, and secondly it's a hard working year - irrespective of final shows, I would never had had time to fart about on a blog!
Interesting idea about the scamps though.
2:49 pm NZDT
"CDW
Who are you?
6:11 PM NZDT"
Hopefully not really as much of an ass as I appear above. Whilst I have made no 'personal' comments and Josh probably is a good guy, I can't stomach 'what appears' to be some derivative work coming out of Lowe... or anywhere for that matter. Safe to say, I am a creative director with 13 years in this business, who would rather remain anonymous for pretty obvious reasons, if that helps. Who are you? Chuckle. :)
CDW
4:29 pm NZDT
Dad.
Individuals who enjoy ripping into other people's work on this site can hardly complain when the same thing happens to them.
Mum
12:27 pm NZDT
Example of inspiration: The new Ford ad appears to be inspired by American Psycho (Briefcases Vs. Business Cards)
Example of copying: this ad.
1:49 am NZDT
Mum,
Why are you on the internets and not in the kitchen?
Son.
11:14 am NZDT
An old university lecturer of mine used to give this helpful advice in regard to essays:
"Copying from one source is plagarism. Copying from two sources is research."
This is copying from one source.
Given that, if the original is not an advertisment, I regard it as fair game - though I don't know what an IP lawyer would think. Using elements of popular culture to flog product is part of our job description.
It's not like that chicken ad with the kid using a light sabre which is a one-to-one copy of that viral MTV ad with the kid using a light sabre... And the perpetrators seemed to get away with that one and were even awarded for it as I recall.
2:40 pm NZDT
10.39 it's the seedy Ponsonby bars you mean.
Yes and I know what you mean about how they shake your hand in public and they're nice to your face but spit venom behind your back.
4:18 pm NZDT
We all get inspired from things, different media, arts, old ads, everyday life, but to blatantly copy frame for frame and then stick a logo at the end, should that be considered good creative advertising? We’re Creatives in a creative industry - that means we should create, and no matter how good that plagiarism is, and it’s done bloody well, it’s just not cricket.
Or is it?
What is good advertising? If sales increase, the brand tracks nicely, the client is happy, is it good advertising?
The execution, the work, and probably the suiting, was fantastic, so does that make it good advertising? If everything about the ad was GREAT, but it wasn’t an original idea, is that good advertising? I don’t know.
4:20 pm NZDT
'Originality is the most dangerous word in advertising. Preoccupied with originality, copywriters pursue something as illusory as swamp fire' - David Ogilvy
Come on people, good advertising is advertising that sells. If an advertisement sells more product or creates more awareness, it has achieved it's objective. Simple as that.
I don't think Vodafone could give a flying fuck whether or not some creative at another agency thinks their advertising is copied or 'inspired'.
12:58 am NZDT
12:58
That's extremely well summed up.
8:06 pm NZDT
12.58 i work at vodafone and it is been looked into.
Lets just say it's a worry.
9:20 pm NZDT
who cares... it's been ripped off, lets move on everyone.
5:45 pm NZDT
David Ogilvy said a lot of stupid things. Such as, 'people don't buy from clowns'. He didn't approve of humour in advertising, or originality, it seems.
8:53 am NZDT
8:53,
As an aside to this discussion, I suspect that David Ogilvy may have been right about people not buying from clowns at the time he said it.
For a post-depression, post-WW2 public, spending money was a serious business and a considered decision. Borrowing was difficult and seen as dangerous.
The whole idea of 'retail therapy', just spending borrowed money on disposable junk to feel better would have been shocking to anyone who had just lived through the Great Depression and WW2.
Times change. David O was perhaps a little slow recognising that, but that doesn't mean he was wrong at the time.
Given that, I was almost physically nauseated during a stint at O&M at the extent of 'David' worship. It was almost like a cult.
I'm hoping that's all changed too now he's dead and his agency is owned by someone else.
Cheers,
Craig
1:20 pm NZDT
1:20 - That sounds a lot like 'saatchikevin.com'.
7:48 pm NZDT
7:48
And somebody said nobody on this site could manage a decent insult.
Cheers,
Craig
11:25 pm NZDT
Post a Comment
<< Home