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Are SA's top creative shops 'borrowing' ideas?
It would appear that some of SA's leading creative teams are 'recreating' European ideas that have already received acclaim for different brands.
I've just seen that new Cell C ad with the chap taking photos with his phone to help give directions. Surely this is a direct rip-off of Johan Renck's excellent, and then original, spot for Sagem and Publicis Conseil in Paris. This was showcased in Shots 85 in November 2004 - I can't believe Network didn't see it.
And then there's that awful ad for the Hyundai 4x4 tank by Jupiter Cape Town with the wild animals roaming around in cages. Speaking as an animal lover, it was a bad enough parallel when DDB Spain won a Cannes Lion for it with Audi in 2004. To blatantly regurgitate the same idea and change just a few words, one of which is the brand, is very disappointing.
Is it a case of 'the Emperor is far and the mountains are high' or are these genuine 'mistakes' suggesting that their CDs are being duped by their teams? SA deserves better than reconstituted European ideas particularly from two such superb ambassadors for the SA ad industry.
