POSTED BY Bruce Kaechele

Dec 23, 2009

Oops? Tide Coldwater Lifts New Campaign Line directly From Early 90s MGD Campaign

Best case scenario is that every person who worked on the new Tide Coldwater campaign is too young to remember the early ’90s. Worst case is that someone did remember and decided ripping off another agency’s creative product was OK.

Granted, no one can remember every ad campaign ever created and some repetition or close variations of campaign themes is inevitable. But when the campaign line in question, Get Out Of The Old. Get Into The Cold (for Miller Genuine Draft) had national TV exposure for at least two years (that I recall) – at a time when national TV still mattered  – it is inexcusable.

But what do you think? Does plagiarism matter in advertising? Is advertising creative deserving of protection or at the very least professional courtesy? Or is there some kind of unspoken statute of limitations I don’t know about – that allows copying after 15 years? Does this hurt Tide in any way?

Love to hear your thoughts.

Update: 1/11/10
More on new Tide campaigns from the New York Times.

Posted by: Bruce Kaechele
Email the author: brucek@fathom.net