Echoes of Originality

by

27 Dec 2007

You know that Dunkin(g) Donuts ad slogan you see everywhere? I am amazed that it is almost identical to the one featured in the first television ad. Maybe it is some kind of “reference” to it. In 1941 Bulova ran a commercial, considered the very first TV ad, with the slogan “America Runs on Bulova Time”. Where’s the Bulova legal department when you need them?
While we’re talking about biting, those Sprint ads… well maybe it’s not a bite, we all drew words in the air with sparklers, but… Turner Classic Movies did a similar thing a few years ago with spots featuring Vincent Gallo. Here’s a link to a page from a great book, “On Screen, In Time” with some images from the original campaign… http://www.onscreenintime.tv/002.html

Comments:

  1. 27 Dec 2007 raafi

    Here’s the video that is almost certain to have inspired the folks who put together those Sprint ads. I mentioned the obvious connection at an advertising blog and got taken to task, appropriately I think, over the value of original ideas in ads. Are we reaching a point where authenticity,originality are no longer valuable commodities? Perhaps the ability to synthesize many things in a satisfying and original way is taking the place of plant-my-stake-in-the-ground discovery. That, or maybe there’s just so much more room for the truly groundbreaking ideas to fill.