創意工業冇創意

LB 今次都大劑，Media 都係度講：

Leo Burnett hits back at Kam Fan copycat claims

by Benjamin Li

HONG KONG - Leo Burnett Hong Kong has responded to industry speculation that its Kam Fan Grand Prix-winning 'Sweat' campaign for Life Yoga had been copied from a 2004 photo series.

The campaign scooped the Grand Prix at the 25th Hong Kong Kam Fan on 6 November. The agency also grabbed the Print Kam Fan award with the same campaign.

However, since the awards ceremony there has been talk within Hong Kong's creative industry that the campaign bears a striking resemblance to a series of images produced by UK photographer John Ross for the Manic Street Preachers' Lifeblood album in 2004. The images were a collaboration with art director and designer Mark Farrow.

Connie Lo, ECD at Leo Burnett Hong Kong, acknowledged the speculation but commented. "In contrast to traditional yoga ads that mostly feature girls in typical post, we highlighted in our ads the health benefit of hot yoga - to sweat. Our idea and the line 'Sweat off your flab' was born from the inspiration of 'sweat' and 'beautiful bodies'. I know there's been some discussion going on in the industry about this. In fact some of the creative directors in town have already commented that that the ideas are completely different, and that John's work is just a photography piece, not an idea about sweating off your flab.”

She added that the HK4As, which organises the Kam Fan Awards, and the panel of judges had confirmed the eligibility of Leo Burnett's campaign.

But according to one of the Kam Fan judges, the jury was unaware of the 2004 photos. "We did not know about John Ross's work, even the two London judges did not raise any similarities. In fact they loved it," said the judge. "It was brought to our attention the day before the Kam Fan. By then it was too late for any further deliberation as all the judges had gone back to their respective countries. Only three out of the nine judges responded to the issue."

"It just reflects the state of the Hong Kong ad industry,” said a Hong Kong-based film director. “It is sad that we need to resort to such tactics to do any good work. There must be something wrong with the way we are training people in advertising, or the system itself, especially the pressure that agency creatives are faced with in terms of the need to win awards."

Opinion on the apparent similarity between the two works appears to be mixed. One senior agency executive described it as a "blatant rip-off", while others pointed out that as the original work was not an ad, it was not a copycat case.

"What is not right is when an ad, in any format, is directly copying another ad from somewhere else, which we have seen in the past from time to time. That's clearly not the case here," said Chris Kyme, creative partner of Eight Partnership. "The only circumstances in which the Leo Burnett campaign might have a problem are if it created (or recreated) the images without seeking permission from the original photographer. In which case, he would probably have an issue with it."

That view was supported by Steve Back, ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. "Should it win awards? If the creative idea has been inspired by an artist, who has given permission to use their artwork, plus it's a great piece of fresh thinking, then yes. I suppose the question is did they approach John Ross to use his artwork or even to shoot the campaign?”

Lo said the agency had emailed Ross at the time of the campaign.

The Grand Kam Fan this year was selected by a panel of International judges, who gathered in Hong Kong to decide the winner.

Royce Yuen, chairman, Ogilvy Hong Kong and HK4As said: "The HK4As, as the award organiser, respects and fully supports the judges’ decision."

Via Media

copycat週圍都有...俾人捉到又如何....18日後佢地依然覺得自己係一條好漢

只係"香港廣告界" 已經變成等同"抄襲界"既同義詞..

抄都抄得有技巧，這個絕對是「畫虎不成反類犬」。John Ross那個無論構圖，顏色運用都比sweat 高幾班。John Ross選擇這個紅的對比度，有血有肉，完全帶出bloods這個題目。但山寨那種不知算是什麼紅色的顏色，看不出和sweat高溫yoga有何聯繫。

繼電影海報抄襲之後，又一傑作！

more news here:

廣告大獎得主 被指抄英影集
李奧貝納：曾參考相關作品 意念原創

【明報專訊】香港廣告界最高榮譽獎項「金帆廣告大獎」，月初公布李奧貝納香港的「Sweat Campaign」高溫瑜伽廣告奪得全場大獎及平面金帆獎項。然而，有資深廣告創作人批評廣告跟5年前英國攝影師John Ross影集「Bloods」極為相似，鬧出涉嫌抄襲的爭議。主辦單位香港廣告商會堅持「維持原判」，而李奧貝納香港則承認曾參考該影集，但堅稱意念屬原創。

今年金帆獎的得獎單位首度獲政府「創意智優計劃」贊助，將代表香港參加海外的廣告比賽，如法國康城國際廣告節及英國D&AD大獎。

原作者指廣告不是新想法

英國攝影師John Ross昨接受本報訪問時說﹕「當時我看到對方的設計後，不能否認這跟我的作品頗相似，但我喜歡它。」他拍攝的影集是2004年為樂隊Manic Street Preachers名為LifeBlood的大碟創作。Ross說，在李奧貝納的廣告面世前對其毫無所知，「這廣告是好的想法，但不是一個新想法。」他無意評論廣告是受其照片啟發還是抄襲其作品，但「不想成為金帆大獎贏家爭議的中心」。

李奧貝納香港鬧出爭議的作品為Life Yoga在4月推出的一系列「Sweat Campaign」，以液態勾出部分女性做高溫瑜伽的姿勢。負責該廣告的創意總監成潔明接受訪問時解釋，整個廣告最重要是意念，構思時做過資料蒐集，問過不少同事的意見，「有同事玩hot yoga（高溫瑜伽），她們形容流好多汗，全身濕透，整個image（影像）便印在我腦海」，最後以「流出淋漓曲線」的概念創作。

她承認執行創作時曾參考坊間創作，John Ross的影集是其中之一。李奧貝納香港執行創作總監羅韶文說，知道行內有很多對於此作品的評論，但認為John Ross的作品是有關血液的攝影作品，而不是關於「流出淋漓曲線」的意念。對於得獎作品被指抄襲，他們未有正面回應，並指自己是參賽者，創作的廣告獲獎代表一種肯定。

廣告人：應考慮收回獎項

從事廣告品牌及創作數十年的嚴啟明，現為品牌及市務傳訊顧問、香港市務學會主席，他認為上述兩套作品「非常類似」，都是身體局部線條的展現、液體的流動等設計，「有若干程度的相同」，質疑李奧貝納香港的作品創意水平能否達獲獎資格，「金帆獎項代表覑本港出色的創作，但與英國影集如此類近的作品得獎，令獎項認受性受挫，主辦單位香港廣告商會應反思，收回李奧貝納的獎項。」

金帆廣告大獎始於1984年，前身為香港HK4As廣告創作大獎，一班國際專業評審認為「Sweat Campaign」平面廣告系列是「很簡潔及是很好的設計」，香港廣告商會對於評審的決定及推薦十分支持及予以尊重，縱使有抄襲爭議，評審們仍會「維持原判」。

明報記者 彭碧珊

4As 50周年廣告
曾惹侵權爭議

【明報專訊】向來標榜原創精神的香港廣告商會（HK4As），過去亦曾遭批評涉嫌抄襲外國作品。2007年，商會為慶祝50周年推出廣告，以「省靚招牌」為主題，邀請4名業內人士在身上掛滿不同的清潔用品，包括毛刷、百潔布、擦銅布和鋼絲刷，藉此帶出廣告人努力「省靚」品牌的信息。

美攝影師曾擬興訟

該廣告系列的媒體覆蓋電視、報章及戶外等，推出以來獲不少好評，但後來遭同業發現無論在構圖、色調以至模特兒姿勢等，都與美國著名攝影師 Phillip Toledano作品相近，Phillip Toledano更直言香港廣告商會有侵權之嫌，一度考慮向該商會採取法律行動。事件成為廣告界行內的熱話，香港廣告商會發言人其後否認抄襲，但承認創意團隊在攝製平面廣告時曾參考過不同作品。

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