I see it happen often. An agency sees a viral, redoes it, changes it a bit to the clients message or a new one, and puts it out. Here is one case in point. T-Mobile Dance. Now those of you who have been reading my blog know about Improv Everywhere. It looks obvious to me that the T-mobile Dance was inspired by the Freeze video in New York that the Improv guys and gals did. Is it bad that agencies do this? Well here is my take on it.
A large portion of the internet is recycled. There is a mantra on the net that says there is nothing original. Now with all the mash-ups from commercials that have been done over the years with people spoofing, or re-editing commercials and placing them online for thier own personal branding, you have to ask, is it wrong for the agencies to then turn around and do the same.
The problem comes when fights start to break out over the content. In a perfect world online, we would be able to use any material we want from any source to recreate our own visions and comments about society and our lives. And we wouldn’t get so pissed off at the corps using our material, if they stopped coming after us when we use theirs.
My verdict is recycling is good. Not copying, recycling. And if we all respect the recycle /mash-up process as a part of creative expression, creation will become even more amazing.
Improv Everywhere
The T-mobile Dance Ad
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