Comments on: Checkers/99c Rips off international brand

By: unodewaal

unodewaal — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:43:46 +0000

Hey Amanda, thanks for your comment. As mentioned before by some of the other commentators, no ideas happen in isolation and it’s very often that new ideas are re-hashed old ones. In this case I just find it incredibly close to the original campaign, and I’m almost sure a quick Google would have found the Aldi ad.

By: AmandaSevasti

AmandaSevasti — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:14:17 +0000

This happens all the time in advertising. No-one intentionally copies work (and if they do, they can’t call themselves an ad agency). Cultural / current events, styles, trends, etc. all influence thinking, and often creatives come up with similar ideas at the same time – even at opposite ends of the world.

By: Spaceghost

Spaceghost — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:22:12 +0000

Good “artists” copy, great “artists” steal…

It takes people to spot it otherwise it is heralded as a success.

Just look at thoose new nando posters which are blatant Obey rip offs…Easy to site “innocent mistake” Not so easy to say, we cant think of anything so we ripped off an idea which is well known else where in the world.

Just a thought.

By: Deems

Deems — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:45:59 +0000

It’s true that there are very few original ideas around, yet people still keep coming up with new and inventive things.

I’d hasten to say that most patrons of Checkers won’t pick up on the fact that their supermarket brand has re-used an international concept. However, I would think twice about using an agency that doesn’t do their research properly (if we give them the benefit of the doubt that that they did not copy Aldi tagline on purpose) especially considering the amount of money required these days by agencies.

By: unodewaal

unodewaal — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:24:04 +0000

MyBrandedLife – I agree 100% with you that there are no new ideas that exist in isolation. All work is inspired by others. However, in a case like this, one needs to ask how much of it was inspired and how much of it was an out-right copy.

That being said, sometimes campaigns are imported for the reason that they WORK. There is no doubt in my mind that consumers will not notice this (that the campaign is a copy), and sometimes it might even be a great idea to use a campaign that has already proven itself in another market.

If that is the case, then it’s a brilliant campaign!

By: MyBrandedLifeTM

MyBrandedLifeTM — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:15:32 +0000

I doubt the agency did it on purpose – anyone who’s worked in advertising knows that this sort of thing happens all the time. You just hope that if the work you’ve come up with has happened before, someone in your company in strat, creative or client service will pick it up before it goes into production.

It’s pretty naive to accuse agencies of ‘copying’ campaigns – no agency aspires to copy any work outright. It’s just unfortunate, really – but it’s a fact, this kind of thing does happen. Flip through any older archive annual and you will find loads of campaign doppelgangers. Having the internet around just makes it easier than ever to spot them.

By: Lettie Casaleggio

Lettie Casaleggio — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:48:51 +0000

I saw the same thing last week; a South African company’s logo, which is almost an exact copy of a overseas company’s logo. (The logo was featured in the LogoLounge 2 book, so it’s fairly well know – at least among designers. It is a shame that agencies and studios do this!