Rip-off ... Or not?

Reported in the trade-press - here's a pair I think have *nothing* at all in common - really!

Volvo vs. Izusu

Those who are super adgrunts and want to view the Volvo film, it's here Volvo V40 T4 - class drawing in the archive.

Resume (Swedish advertising news) and Extreme (UK 'ad-watching company') cried wolf when they saw these. "Forsman and Bodenfors have stolen a commercial
idea again" Resume said. (Mats Paulsen's article in Resume might still be here).
The Izusu commercial was aired in the states 92, and the Volvo commercial from Forsman and Bodenfors won gold at Cannes 1998. Resume did admit however that the music was different, the swedish Volvo film was far cuter than it's American "dictator-like and un-Swedish" counterpart and that they were talking about different cars. So I watched both of them; (my apologies for the poor quality of these gif's)

Volvo: Swedish classroom, exited teacher checking drawings.

Isuzu: Classroom with kids coloring in, teacher keeps repeating 'Stay within the lines'--->

Volvo: most drawings are normal...

Isuzu: Grown redhead, driving a jeep, remembers childhood and teachers hypnotic 'stay within the lines'--->

volvo: little artist boy draws speed-lines on everything. Even a tree gets them.

Isuzu: One little redhead just can't control herself, and she gleefully goes everywhere but within the lines.--->

volvo: little artist boy goes to his dads car. It's a turbo. This explains his artistic interpretation of the world.

Isuzu: Has she changed now that she's an Adult? Nope, she turns her jeep off the road, past the white line. some kids never change-->

I don't think the Volvo ad had a line at the end (it really didn't need one) the Izusu line was; Izusu, go your own way.

Please...Am I the only person that thinks that this is not a case of the same idea, this is a case of the same premise.. The same way a typeface or a layout in itself is not an idea, neither is the fact that both of these commercials take place in a classroom. One shouldn't confuse the Idea with the Execution, or for that matter, Idea with subject, that will just leave us all far too paranoid to be able to create anything in the end.

These are two different concepts, just the same place, a place we all know and can identify with.

If we think this is a rip-off then this means that those hundreds of tired commercials that take place in adland's favorite spot, weddings, all have the same idea?! What about spots that use talking dogs? Spots that use sumo wrestlers?

Ideas can resemble each other, but these commercials, though both talking about cars show different things, speed vs. four-wheel rough drive.
They aren't even on the same subject! Resume has published two other Forsman and Bodenfors campaigns, claiming that they were plagiarizing other campaigns.

A campaign idea for Ikea involved putting furniture at bus-stops, something BBH did for Levis a few years back. (If I remember the Levis ads correctly, it was something about "relaxed fit" and the furniture at the bus-stops were lounge-chairs..)

Forsman&Bodenfors also did a campaign for christmas cards that resembled a british campaign for Tesco. Forsman and Bodenfors thinks "The comparison is stupid because the Ikea concept has so much more than just furnished bus stops and is not at all like Levis' campaign, and that these articles in Resume dishonor the creatives."

I didn't see the other articles, but if they were anything like this, I probably agree with Forsman and Bodenfors. Though ideas
are ripped off , chewed up , plagiarized or just "a homage to..." other ideas all the time, I think this is just a case of plain old coincidence.

This kinda makes me worry that the Epica awards aren't as good as one might think, as they are judged by the trade-press rather than someone in the trade (Something I always liked about the Epica before).. If the trade-press can't see that these aren't the same idea, how can they judge good work? Resume is in the jury each year of the Epica
awards. Ho-Hum.