Plagiarism & similarity of ideas – how close is too close?

Advertising – an industry where the chase for the next big idea is always on, where every work done, every idea germinated is fiercely protected under intellectual property, copyright, etc. And any similarity in the idea, the work or the execution becomes a contentious issue.

But let us take a step back and analyse – what are the criteria to judge the similarities? Did the idea just skim the surface of similarity or was it a direct lift off? What has been replicated – the execution or the idea?

Let’s take a step even further back – what constitutes original advertising? Can we say with all degrees of certainty that a work is 100 per cent original and has never been done before? Ever?

And do the consumers even care?

Now the lines get blurry.

To wrap our heads around the issue and to get deeper insights from the industry leaders themselves, AdGully spoke to a cross-section of advertising experts and here’s what they had to say...

What constitutes an original creative idea?

Dhunji Wadia, President, Rediffusion Y&R:
“What exactly is original? That’s a very tough call. We may observe things while walking down a lane that could impact our thoughts. Often people come up with ideas without remembering where they got initiated. Inspiration can come from many sources. Perhaps even after many years.”

Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands:
“We are living in the times where there are no inventions only innovations. There is no original idea there are only fresh ideas, with slightly newer take.”

Priti Nair, Director, Curry Nation:
“We all draw insights from life and twist them around differently and freshly. There might be similarities in two creative’s but this is because all ideas are from the world we are living in.”

Harish Bijoor, brand-expert & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc:
“As the term itself says it all, an original idea is an original idea. The moment you see it you recognise it to be one. The moment you see it, you tend to tell yourself that it is unique, different and refreshing. You will jump with it. Ideas such as these are rare.

And then there are inspired and cross-pollinated ideas. One idea leads to another. One creative idea from auto paves its way to give rise to a similar idea in a different category context. Now that is not really, original, but even that passes. You say you have seen it before, but you excuse it.

And then there are cross society pollinated ideas. Ideas that have worked in the West and find their way into India. Not original, but context refitted. You excuse is as well.”

Ankit Jain, Creative Director, ColourCraft:
“As Creative Director, what I am about to say may be blasphemy but an original creative idea is as difficult to find as a unicorn, at least in the advertising world. I prefer to look at ideas as "inspirations" rather than through the prism of "original" or "unoriginal" because the genesis of every idea is in some way based on an individual's experiences and view of the world and hence never truly original.

In fact, advertising is and should be the articulation of an idea which already exists in the mind of consumers just at the edge of their realisation (kind of like inception). An idea so simple that it is immediately relatable to a consumer because he or she has always thought that way without realizing it. It's akin to stand-up comedy where there are no "original jokes" but really thought-provoking observations articulated in a way that is both entertaining and memorable.

One of my favourite current campaigns, for example, is Airbnb's new ads about "not visiting, touring or doing Paris" but "living in Paris". This is not an original idea per se (refer to the hundreds of pretentious travel blogs out there). But the Airbnb campaign makes an "original use" of an existing idea in a visually captivating way. And that's what makes it an interesting and relatable campaign. Amul is another example of a brand that uses existing trends, events and ideas in a way that has made them one of the most memorable brands in the world.

So what constitutes an original creative idea in the advertising world? I guess the simple answer is: an extremely creative execution of an idea whose time has come."


How close is too close?

Dhunji Wadia:
“Close would be a blatant lift without seeking permission from the originator.”

Ankit Jain:
“E-commerce is an example of a domain where ideas are boringly close to each other because the end-goal is pretty much the same, and where companies rely on quantity of media over quality of ideation. However, in my humble opinion, Flipkart leads in terms of ideation in the ecommerce segment because they create relatable characters like the guy in the ‘bilkul pakka’ ads or the inspired casting of a veteran like Amol Palekar, which make their ads more memorable than say Amazon’s where it’s all a blur to me. So what is too close? Simply put, if it is not memorable, it is too close and too unoriginal to something the audience has already seen.”

Harish Bijoor:
“Yes that’s possible for sure. Just as long as you are able to prove this brainwave of yours to be unique, and coincidental, nothing much happens. In fact you are the only one who knows the truth. The original idea must always come with a conscience check.”

Priti Nair:
“There was a time when three different countries did diet can creatives with measure tape, these things happen. What will you do to show diet cola? And as said all our ideas our drawn from the insights from the life, and no creative person in right mind would copy. Consciously, no one will want to do something which has already been done.”

Ashish Khazanchi:
“Two people in two different places can have similar idea, because of various reasons, they might be in the same environment and exposed to same stimuli which could be same art, literature, event or popular culture. Like the case of Exide battery advertisement and Sulekha.com advertisement both had same stimuli.”

When and where do we draw the line for copycat or plagiarism?

Dhunji Wadia:
“In today’s argumentative and almost litigious environment, there is tremendous pressure to demand proof of the origins of the idea. I am of the strong belief that no creative person wakes up in the morning with the thought of plagiarising or lifting an idea. If they do, then their creative existence would be short-lived, lonely and devoid of friends.”

Harish Bijoor:
“One must get tough the moment you see such overt and covert moves. A zero tolerance on plagiarism is the need of the day.”

Ashish Khazanchi:
“We all draw ideas from our surrounding same thing can act as a stimuli to two different people. As far as plagiarism is considered, you know it when you see it.”

Ankit Jain:
“Fortunately, we have the audience, consumers and the Twitter Gods to draw that line for us. In today’s globally connected, hyper-informational, social media policing culture, advertisers and creative professionals need to be more vigilant than ever before to ensure their campaigns don’t even look close to others. And for that you need to be in tune with what’s happening out there through avenues like Adgully :) and be a research-nazi - advice that would have served well for the people in charge of Brand Melania Trump when she plagiarised half of Michelle Obama’s speech recently and got immediately lambasted by the couch activists on social media. So if you don’t know how to draw that line, someone is going to draw it for you.”

Priti Nair:
“It’s a grey line. The benefits of doubt always exist. Creative people should be well informed. One should research well; there are times when you have to dismiss an idea that you really liked because you found something similar. These things matter in fraternity and not to audience in general. With the Internet we are exposed to so many things we should research about our creatives, but the second one who does it should always be given benefit of doubt.”

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