Bang! Bang! You're Copied!

The old "when women have guns aim at the family jewels" visual gag, executed almost identically on two separate posters..

quarantine poster

Client: Burnsville Pistol range
Agency: Fallon McElligott, Minneapolis
AD: Joe Paprocki
CW: Dave Pullar
Line reads: Tuesday night is ladies night
Seen In: Communication Arts annual 1995

Gunclub

Client: American Firearms
Agency: Paradigm Communications.
AD: Cody Spinadel CW:Mike Collado
Line reads:classes for women..(or something like that)
Seen In: 1997 Art Directors Club (US)

I'm pretty damn sure that the 'tuesday night' one was first. It totally cracks me up, so much so that I hung it in my office back when it was in the CA annual of 1995.

Even I cringe at the blunt second visual. So, I think the top one is the better one, and hey, they second one came two years after the first one won awards...*Hmmmm*.. Makes you think they...er..were very inspired by the first ad? Maybe. But perhaps it's just a "first thought" visual.

What surprises me most here, is that the Communication Arts Annual and
The Art Directors Club apparently never look at each others awards.
Else one would have thought the judges could spot this rip-off before it actually won an award! Heck I should judge, it would've never slipped by me. *hahaha*

Well, it might just be a total coincidence as well. The old 'girls will aim at the family jewels'-joke-thought has crossed more than one mind more than once. Heck, thats where I always aim ;-) . But do say what you think too. It's a free world.

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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anonymous's picture

If you had done your homework you would've found that Paradigm Communications created the ad poster, as well as a TV commercial, which won the local addy's in '95 and went on to win '96 One Show merit and '96 Clio for TV. I knew these creatives and the work produced was concepted and executed before the CA annual came out. Unfortunately, the entry timeline was to late for '95 CA.

Ocassionally, simular ideas do come to fruition at the same time in this business. Check out last year's One Show gold- MOCA Museum work by Chiat/Day. Same idea created in England by another agency for a dot.com.

It's critics like you that give advertising and jornalism a bad name. If you have any intregrity yourself, you would do your homework then post this letter on your fine website as well. I suggest you interview at The National Enquirer... you could go far in the business. Regards

anonymous's picture

If you had done your homework you would've found that Paradigm Communications created the ad poster, as well as a TV commercial, which won the local addy's in '95 and went on to win '96 One Show merit and '96 Clio for TV. I knew these creatives and the work produced was concepted and executed before the CA annual came out. Unfortunately, the entry timeline was to late for '95 CA.

Ocassionally, simular ideas do come to fruition at the same time in this business. Check out last year's One Show gold- MOCA Museum work by Chiat/Day. Same idea created in England by another agency for a dot.com.

It's critics like you that give advertising and jornalism a bad name. If you have any intregrity yourself, you would do your homework then post this letter on your fine website as well. I suggest you interview at The National Enquirer... you could go far in the business. Regards

Dabitch's picture

heh.

Hence the comment: "Well, it might just be a total coincidence as well..."

Due to judging and submissions deadlines, it becomes difficult to see exactly which idea was first to market - also to consider, how long the idea was on a bristol board in the creative department before the client approved it. Take solace in that only good ideas make it to Badland - and mainly for the fun of seeing the slight variations in execution and to consider which one is better so that we may all learn from it. There are tons of identical crap ideas out there that we never Badland simply because the ideas are rubbish to begin with.

anonymous's picture

If you had done your homework, and looked around these fine pages you'd A) realise this is not a journalist writing B) Understand also that the whole point of these pages IS exactly that "sometimes ideas happen independant of each other" c) Have a laugh at it.

Instead you launch an acid-reflux attack, which honestly makes you look like you have a plagarized idea to hide - my guess is that is you behind anonymous, Cody Spinadel. I know you.

anonymous's picture

another thing, Cody - if you had any intergrity, you'd sign with your real name.