25 Comments

What a gallery of shit, apart from the actual OK GO video obviously.

Hope all the so called creatives involved all feel very pleased with themselves spend that fat undeserved fee well.
anonymous
2008-06-03 14:37:06

Yet another victory for advertising. SCORE!
honest joe
2008-06-03 14:53:23

Pretty sad state of affairs indeed - not even bothering to be subtle about the ripping-off any more!
katie
2008-06-03 16:09:05

Not forgetting the Fallon rip off of Kozundan for that Bunny Bravia ad last year.

I believe the only word which could describe me chops when I first saw the Berocca spot is

A G H A S T

I'd like to know the brainstorm meeting leading up to this inevitable conversation...

"Lets just rip off that music video"
"Ok cool, how are you thinking of putting the *insert agency name here* slant on it?"
"I don't know I can't be arsed to even read what Berocca is"
"Right then, um let me think... Eureka I have it: lets just put the treadmills outside!"
"Wow I wish I was as sharp as you"

Can anyone tell me who the agency were for this one?
Stu
2008-06-03 18:35:40

This cements my opinion of Advertising -- RUBBISH!
Peter Saville
2008-06-03 20:17:53

I find people's smugness at pointing these things out equally off-putting. Yeah these are all lame rip offs, but get over it. It's as bad as the teenage boys who spend their lives crying on imdb.com that Japanese horror film remakes, aren't as good as the original! Of course they're not, but they are a fact. Let them exist, still love the original and move on.

Shit now I feel smug!! Doh! Can't win!
The Truth
2008-06-03 21:55:26

Perfect examples of the state advertising agencies are in all over the world. Spending high budget on low creativity.
Still, it's the companies that go along with it because "such well know agency could be wrong, now could it?"
Not Another Graphic Designer
2008-06-04 09:10:21

There's another rip off from Lastminute.com I have stumbled upon recently. Their viral - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgZuHlDuulk - is a blatant rip off of improv everywhere's (love these guys) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYZ6rbPU2M. Original is way better...
Nicola Davies
2008-06-04 12:18:58

Yes the smuggness is cringeworthy. This form of comedy has been around for a while - Kid Acne, Goldie Lookin Chain etc. Flight of the Conchords have taken it to a new level, but it's still nothing new. Poor adverts none the less!
Sarah
2008-06-04 15:11:16

That Pot Noodle ad sadly falls below the standard of its predecessors.

Well for me, atleast.

I often wonder what it would be like to not be such a cynic when it comes to these kinds of messages. Maybe - i would have loved the ad, had i not been judging it on it's strategy and planning and if i wasn't an avid brett and germaine fan.

Who knows, Who cares.

Noone slags off that advert with the worm that sings the song about weed killer....
Gre Hale
2008-06-04 15:30:20

I think it is inevitable that adverts will draw their inspiration from main stream, low budget media such as YouTube, and I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. Although I would prefer to see the huge amounts of money which goes into advertising used to make something original, not copied and not similar to what many of us in the know have already seen.
Hume
2008-06-04 18:01:17

I think I would term these "tributes" rather than "rip-offs" since they make no attempt to disguise their similarity with the original. The only people who've been ripped off are the advertisers who paid big agency bucks for these spots.

I agree with The Truth: no sense getting worked up over these. Unless they win awards - then we should form an angry mob.
joel
2008-06-05 05:38:03

That Berocca ad is a disgrace. D&AD/CR should award them a 'Rip-Off-of-Shame' trophy and then kick them. Hard. In their Berocca's.

But what about the Weezer video that is in the CR Monitor column? Is that a vapid rip-off of YouTube icons, paid to whore themselves to a record label? Or is it a joyous lo-fi celebration of 'classic' clips that we all love by a geek-punk-rock band that we might have a soft spot for? If it had been an advert for Coke, I imagine the furore would be quite big.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI
Ed Wright
2008-06-05 09:53:12

It's like when the Honey Monster did a crimp.
Thomas Prestidge
2008-06-05 11:31:57

The Coors 'ad' remonds me more of these boys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuV2VYMyAjM
Often imitated. Never duplicated.
Ferg
2008-06-05 12:34:42

When I first saw the title of this post and the still from the video I thought 'uhoh, Patrick's mispelt Conchords, that's unlike him!'But then I realised it wasn't the Conchords (sorry for doubting you Patrick!)

I think joel makes a good point - any client who thought they were buying an original idea is probably the biggest victim right now.

Thomas Prestidge - Just remember the Boosh's 4-way crimp "Crimpty crimp *@$^ you!"

Oh and to Ed Wright for me the distinction is because the people who had the original idea/got the fame/notoriety for doing it first are involved in the Wheezer video and its aimed squarely at their peers.
Helen-LG
2008-06-05 16:01:54

The berocca ad is woeful, I'd like to think that it started out as a half decent homage to the original...but after a few month's research and various client meetings, it's ended up as a big steaming turd.

But the other two ads can hardly be called rip-offs.

In terms of style, it's like saying nsync ripped off the backstreet boys, who ripped off new kids on the block, who ripped off some other bunch of over-hyped tits before them. But because there's a product attached to them, they're cast aside as rip-offs.

Let's not kid ourselves, most advertising (and design) is there to communicate, engage and sell to the mainstream, so it's only natural that this sort of thing occurs. But because we're in an industry with an over-hyped sense of its own importance, we jump on the bandwagon and crucify it.

Do you honestly think that Joe public is sat at home on the sofa on a Friday night, (most likely scratching his balls) and thinking, 'my gosh, they ripped off that music video from the internet'? No.

This kind of thing will continue to happen, whether it's advertising, design or dare I say it, art. But the ones who get away with it are the ones who are better at hiding their sources of inspiration, which of course is the real secret to creativity.

PS. Aliens in an Indiana Jones movie... What the fuck?
Albert
2008-06-06 15:59:51

Perhaps the similarity of the Pot Noodle advert can be explained by the fact that it has the same director as Flight of the Conchords - Taika Cohen.
Anna
2008-06-10 10:56:49

With Berocca its not just the client missing out by getting ripped off by the agency, I'll bet the makers of the original Ok Go! video received no recognition (monetarily or otherwise) from the agency either. Whilst the latter no doubt got much more money than the music video makers ever did! ....unless it was the same director :-O

Granted Joe Public probably doesn't notice/care, but as members of a creative industry isn't it our duty to bring something new to the table?

With the Weezer video, I don't know if it had been a coke ad, I wouldn't have been too offended as it would clearly be satire & homage, not ripping off. Incidentally I loved their last ad I saw - Grand Theft Auto turned on its head one!

I agree with Ed Wright too there should be a 'Shameful Rip-off & Appropriation' Trophy! Maybe D&AD could give them a wooden pencil...
Stu
2008-06-12 15:43:46

I agree with The Truth: no sense getting worked up over these. Unless they win awards - then we should form an angry mob.
sohbet
2008-09-13 03:26:50

It's like when the Honey Monster did a crimp.
evden eve nakliyat
2008-10-23 11:26:05

makers of the original Ok Go! video received no recognition (monetarily or otherwise) from the agency either. Whilst the latter no doubt got much more money than the music video makers ever did! ....unless it was the same director :-O

Granted Joe Public probably doesn't notice/care, but as members of a creative industry isn't it our duty to bring something new to the ta
evden eve nakliyat
2009-11-20 08:04:10

When I first saw the title of this post and the still from the video I thought 'uhoh, Patrick's mispelt Conchords, that's unlike him!'But then I realised it wasn't the Conchords (sorry for doubting you Patrick!)
evden eve nakliyat
2010-01-26 09:26:51

three videos removed.will reload it??
halı yıkama
2010-01-27 11:12:33

three videos removed.will reload it??
evden eve nakliyat
2010-06-25 09:03:50

Tell us what you think

Your comment: What happens with my feedback?

What happens with my feedback?

We no longer require you to register and have a password in order to comment, simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. CR encourages comments to be short and to the point. As a general rule, they should not run longer than the original post. Comments should show a courteous regard for the presence of other voices in the discussion. We reserve the right to edit or delete comments that do not adhere to this standard.

Name: (required)

Title:

e-Mail: (required)

URL