You’ve seen it making the rounds on all the social networks.
Anti-Villar pundits called presidential candidate Manny Villar out on his "Scroll" TV Ad, which was an uncomfortably close adaptation of the “Truth (Upside Down)” political ad of Lopez Murphy, who ran for President in Argentina last 2006.
Villar’s ad initially drew praises, until industry insiders remembered that there was a very similar Cannes Lion-winning ad from South America. Accusations of plagiarism began spreading online like wildfire, with statements like “Nakakopya ka na ba ng commercial ng may commercial?”, a play on one of his earlier TV spots.
TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, the agency behind the Villar ad, has finally come out with a statement regarding this controversy.
Yes, they said they did adapt the "Scroll" ad from Murphy’s campaign, which was created by sister agency SAVAGLIO\TBWA in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to them, it was a common practice for a worldwide network like TBWA Worldwide to share concepts between countries, as with their other clients like adidas, Absolut, Pedigree, Apple and Nivea.
"While the ad format was adapted from The Truth ad by TBWA\Argentina, the message is genuinely Manny Villar’s. And it hopes to inspire a country deeply steeped in hopelessness, negativity and cynicism," a representative from TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno said.
From the beginning, they also said Villar was aware of the adapted format and had no qualms about using it to bolster his campaign.
So what do you think? Is it okay for a presidential candidate to use an adaptation (albeit sanctioned) of a highly successful campaign? You decide.
VILLAR’S SCROLL TV AD
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