funny how winning awards is also bringing bad blood in desi advertising world. heard that the multi award winning idea for slim jeans was originally done by JWT bangalore and when JWT Mumbai was entering it in awards there was a big showdown between the 2 office. Finally they added the name of CDs from both the branches.
also there is this mc cann case where the digruntled creative complained to one show about a copied ad and mc cann had to with draw the ad.
full story below (from agency faqs).
The US based One Show has disqualified an entry for ‘Sanctuary’ magazine, created by McCann-Erickson, Mumbai. The reason the One Club officials cite for the disqualification is that the idea was similar to one used for the Matheran Bachao Samiti, created by Uday Parkar and Veynz Nayre in 1998 while they were with Everest Brand Solutions (then Everest Advertising). (To see both the creatives, click here).
Yash Egami, managing editor, The One Club (which institutes the One Show awards), told agencyfaqs!, “Yes, we have discussed this issue with our One Club board and have decided to disqualify this entry by McCann-Erickson, Mumbai, for ‘Sanctuary’ magazine from this year’s One Show.”
According to Egami, the McCann entry is ‘not an entirely original idea’. Apparently, Parkar and Nayre approached the One Show and showed them the two creatives. “Uday Parkar made a pretty strong case and provided images which we reviewed,” Egami elaborates. “It was clear from what we saw and what he said that the idea was the same.”
It all started like this: Parkar and Nayre (who are currently NCDs at Adfactors Advertising) had created a calendar for the Matheran Bachao Samiti as a DM exercise, way back in 1998, while they were at Everest.
The flip-style calendar showed the image of a tree sprawled across its length. When one flipped the pages as the months went by, the tree would get chopped bit by bit, thereby underlining the idea that this would be the state of the forests at Matheran if one let time slip by idly. This entry went on to win three Abby golds, three CAG silvers, a Clio bronze and a New York Festival gold; it was also a finalist at the London International Advertising Festival and Creativity Annual.
Now, almost eight years later, Manish Bhatt and Raghu Bhat, creative directors at McCann-Erickson, have created a DM communication for ‘Sanctuary’ magazine using a Post-It notepad. The notepad has the image of a tree on one of its sides, and the tree goes on diminishing as one uses the pages from the pad. The copy on each page reads: ‘35% of the world’s forest cover is chopped down every year to make paper. Use paper sparingly’.
Manish Bhatt of McCann, however, denies that the idea was ‘lifted’. He supports his statement by saying that while the Matheran Bachao Samiti calendar highlighted the aspect, ‘Do something about deforestation before time slips by’, McCann’s work is more direct and talks about the usage of paper. “Our communication angle is different because we talk about using paper sparingly and thereby saving trees,” Bhatt elaborates. “Besides, it is natural to use the ‘paper-tree’ angle for communication against deforestation. But we don’t term all of it as plagiarism.”
Uday Parkar, who was with McCann-Erickson as executive creative director before moving on to Adfactors recently, has a different point of view. “I was a part of the internal committee at McCann when we were deciding which entries to send to the awards shows,” Parkar says. “I raised an objection about the ‘Sanctuary’ magazine entry back then, too, but, unfortunately, nothing was done about it. I was left with no choice but to quit the agency and approach the One Show organisers.”
When agencyfaqs! spoke to Manish Bhatt of McCann, he said, “Yes, Parkar was a part of that committee and it was explained to him that the work deserved to be highlighted. It is unfortunate and sad that things have come to such a pass.”
Even Raghu Bhat of McCann shrugged off the allegation of any similarity between the two works. He says, “If these two works are similar, then probably people would find similarities between karma and seven samurai.”
He sarcastically comments, “I have asked my team not to work on any concept which involves a tree. Probably people will then comment on that one being a copy as well.”
“The irony is that although these allegations do not affect Manish’s life or mine, there are also young members in our team, who feel that they have been unfairly deprived of their One Show nomination. It’s almost like a 50 year-old man snatching a lollipop from a kid’s hands.”
Egami of One Club, meanwhile, gives his own take on the issue. When asked if this was a case of clear-cut plagiarism, he says, “No. In an idea-based industry, people do tend to borrow from one another. But in this particular case, the ‘Sanctuary’ magazine piece is not consistent with the spirit of the One Show.”
“The One Show is about raising the standards of creativity in advertising and recognising creative excellence. We will simply withdraw it from the book and the show and any other materials,” he says.
For the record, on receiving entries from around the world, the One Club asks for verification for any ads that are finalists. The concerned agency must provide proof of publication in the form of a tear-sheet or proof of airing dates for TVCs or a signed letter from the client.
The One Club also asks its judges (who are among the most experienced creative brains in the industry) to alert it about any questionable or suspicious ads that they come across during the judging process. These ads, once noticed, are then taken up and eliminated, if the need arises. Ravi Deshpande, chief creative officer, Contract, was among the One Show judges this year.
Bhatt of McCann concludes pensively that after having built a solid reputation over the years, McCann-Erickson will not be affected by one disqualified entry.
after awards, jealousy!!!!
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