Call it inspiration or just call it down right thievery, I just want to share a few thoughts on the much debated 'grey area' of copying.
It's a sad day when you can't look at a fantastic idea and appreciate it fully for everything it is. Instead, nowadays whenever I see an amazing idea I wonder how long it will be before the idea is bastardized and re-done for some ad campaign, music video or such like by some bugger like me (oh the shame). Of course, inspiration is the way of the world, without the Beatles there would be no Oasis and all that, but where do we draw the wretched line?
Obviously, being in advertising, Mr D and myself are constantly debating between ourselves about whether it's alright to do certain stuff, has it been done before etc. It seems that in order to sell in any idea, whether it be within the agency or to client, it must have a reference. "It's a bit like that film. It's like in that viral with the treadmills. Remember those posters done in Brazil, like them but..." Everything has to be like something else. Otherwise we're moving, heaven forbid, out of the comfort zone of the familiar and into the realms of 'new and risky'. Because at the end of the day, money is on the line.
Of course, there are plenty of examples where risks have been taken to try something new, and some of these inevitably become the most memorable and successful (from Tango to Gorilla) although of course a lot don't. Indeed in today's market, surely only the new and exciting will survive. It's all about the entertainment man. But this is where I get frustrated: when I find out that an amazing ad has actually been 'inspired' by something else...it's happened time and time again, and with the internet at the public's disposal it's become increasingly difficult for people to cover their naughty steps. Good. Most recently that great Transport for London ad that invited the viewer to count how many basketball passes were made, then asks at the end 'did you see the dancing bear?' Genius. But then, oh no, it turns out that there was actually a film made by some professor at a university in Germany or something that's exactly the same (even the use of basketball!) But, if the desired result of getting people to give the road their full attention is achieved, is it then ok?
If you must do this, and mainly I imagine it happens through laziness or desperation, it's all about integrity and making sure that the thing you're 'inspired' by does indeed just inspire you and is definitely not straight up copied.
Anyway, back to seeing a great idea that's
bound to be copied - this idea is brilliant (from Thad's
Limited Fun website). It was thought up by an art student for his graduation project. The clever chap had the idea to draw the world's largest drawing, a self-portrait (although it looks more like Zeus!), by sending a bag via DHL with a GPS inside to a multitude of complicated destinations around the globe.
He hasn't actually done it, but the thinking behind it is phenomenal...although now part of me is actually thinking "Shit, is this actually an advertising campaign for DHL, disguised as 'an art project'?" Hmm...
