Copy & paste ads
Good people, did originality die the day television advertisement came to Malawi?
It appears lack of regulation and plagiarism are fast turning the meeting of marketing and creativity into a minefield of multi-million dollar lawsuits.
Some Malawian artists have sought compensation following unauthorised use of their works in adverts.
Now the image of providers of goods and services continues being compromised by advertising firms with a perilous penchant for copying foreign works.
Landmines in focus comprise newest TV advert of a medical aid scheme which features familiar footage from US producer Malcom Lee’s 2013 film, The Best Man Holiday as well as a soap manufacturer’s which uses the stunningly unwrinkled face of US R&B diva Ciara.
Did the local firms get requisite permission from the Hollywood artists and copyright holders? How much did the foreign celebrities and brains behind their original works gain for appearances in the redone marketing stunts? Can the firms really afford Ciara, the $16 million recording artist, actress, fashion model and dancer who was offered $2 million by several magazines to publish pictures of her baby boy?
Every celebrity has a bill of rights and judicious payment for such appearances and endorsements is part of the deal. Where Ciara and Lee work, basketball Michael Jordan pockets more than the payroll of Nike’s plant in Indonesia just for being the sportswear’s brand ambassador.
Unless the Americans got their dues, the two adverts could be symptomatic of a graver problem—typical of a nation where even gospel hitmakers seem to think mentions of Jesus and the Cross is a license to reproduce clips of Mel Gibson’s blockbuster The Passion [of Christ] willy-nilly.
Uncurbed plagiarism signals lack of creativity, quality control, image management and confidence in local talent. Is that not the reasons most feature bosses’ cousins and sexual partners while polished models die jobless?
Where originality matters, it is scandalous how credible institutions, marketers and advertising agents allow associating their offerings with intellectual theft.
It can’t be laziness alone! Those who cannot afford the talent they need have to do with K2 casts. Intellectual theft is a crime.
