UPDATE October 8, 2007: Sony responds to the accusations.
Oh boy… the internet is on fire with the claim that the new Sony Bravia ads featuring those cute little bunnies has been ripped off from LA-based artists kozyndan. As Gizmodo points out, kozyndan is best known for limited edition prints (pictured below) of NYC bunny panoramics. See it big here. Also, they got serious cred for reworking of Hokusai’s “Great Wave off Kana gawa” (pictured even further below) with bunnies inserted in the place of the white wash. Hey – they got a thing for rabbits, ok?
We’re all adults here. We’re all in the biz and it often happens that inspiration comes from one place and the Cannes Lion goes to another. Go read Scamp for more on this argument. We proposed awhile ago that Fallon UK got the idea for their Cadbury spot from the British TV show “The Mighty Boosh.” We called that “inspiration.” Is this any different? However, the Sony Bravia ads are causing such a big stir across the blogosphere for their genius, that we thought perhaps – you guys would want to discuss this one, battle it out. Besides, there’s more…
It seems that Passion Pictures, the folks behind the animation who worked with Fallon UK on the spot, had at one point requested samples of kozyndan’s work and then never called them back. If you’ve got a Flickr account, read their thoughts about it here. Gizmodo is blaming Sony, which is actually incorrect. Naturally, the fault would lie at the feet of Passion Pictures and/or Fallon UK.
We’ve contacted Passion Pictures and Fallon to see what they have to say. Considering that it’s 10:45 pm on Thursday night, we’ll just have to wait until morning to see what’s what. In the meantime… discuss.
READ MORE: Michel Gondry Versus Motorola – Video
October 5, 2007 at 1:33 pm
[...] well that’s nice too. Well done Kozyndan. That’s really lovely too. But hang on. What’s all this [...]
October 5, 2007 at 3:00 pm
This will probablly sound hacky. But in an industry where most ads are based on previously done ads, isn’t it ok to draft off of art, music etc.????
October 5, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Also from another angle they used the music from the original imac ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83nS4EGKU04
all in all, try getting you own ideas. i hate idea thief’s
Grow your own.
October 5, 2007 at 5:07 pm
if the original imac ad wasnt so iconic it would be acceptable. But this whole advert stinks of plagiarism
October 5, 2007 at 6:23 pm
[...] Total Rippoff according to Agency Spy [...]
October 5, 2007 at 8:37 pm
it happens all the time that you come up with something terrific and someone else has seen it somewhere. even when you know for a fact that you haven’t seen that piece before, the mere existence should kill your ad. that however doesn’t happen all the time. not always do you run into someone who has seen it before it goes to the client, through production, live. I actually have a piece on adcritic…erm…creativity online right now, where someone wrote in the comments I ripped off a new zealand ad agency and their glorious work. I don’t know the work, I still haven’t found it, but it stings and stinks.
my point here being: not everything is lazy people ripping each other off. I think that’s actually the vast minority. then again, I did once see a junior book with a famous nike campaign in it that I know for a fact jim riswold did.
October 8, 2007 at 8:05 am
It makes sense to draw inspiration from everywhere (not just other advertising) but why not credit the originator, or even better, involve them in the production?
Nothing is a secret on the internet.
October 8, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Come on.
I’d wager a good amount that the kozyndan images were in the original creative deck. That style is right up the alley of nearly all the creatives in the biz who staff their deck with the latest designer vinyl toys.
It’s a rip off. Pure and simple.
October 8, 2007 at 5:31 pm
[edit]
Albeit a very well done rip-off.
October 9, 2007 at 10:50 pm
If anyone’s interested, the original Sony Balls spot was also a skit on Letterman in the 90’s. In the exact same location, he drops about 5,000 colored bouncy balls down a San Francisco street. Then he does it with watermelons. Could hardly be coincidence.
I haven’t ever said anything about because I love the work and don’t really think Juan Cabral or Fallon are guilty of anything but it should be noted when everyone talks about these ‘revolutionary’ creative ideas.
All still beautiful ads though. In this case, seems Kozydan should have been given credit.
October 15, 2007 at 8:43 pm
[...] http://agencyspy.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/fallon-passion-ripped-off-the-concept-for-the-bunny-bravia... [...]
October 15, 2007 at 10:00 pm
metalmonday has it right — there’s no way any UK creatives could have missed Kozyndan’s art — it’s in any Soho bookstore.
There’s a big reason ripping off ideas is bad guys — there’s consequences. Creative karma’s getting you now.
October 18, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Always remember why you have chosen to be in the creative industry – to create originality.
If a source of inspiration exist, give credit. It’s respect.