After our excitement, yet slight disappointment, over the latest Bravia ad ( snippets of which look suspiciously like this Kozyndan panoramic, which was sent to Passion about two years ago) Sony has released the following statement:

There is suggestion that there is a similarity between an illustration by Kozyndan and the new Sony BRAVIA ‘Play-Doh’ advert. Sony would like to stress that the advert conception, creative and final animation is not based on any pre-existing artwork.

Sony Europe, its agency Fallon, production company Gorgeous, and animation company Passion Pictures, assert that the wave, whale and bunnies were arrived at without reference to these artists. In the original script, the rabbits were one of many creatures to cavort around a cityscape. In fact, the location was only finalised shortly before the shoot. The final creative, led by Juan Cabral at Fallon and director Frank Budgen at Gorgeous, was chosen to champion the brand and best reflect ‘colour.like.no.other’. Sony enjoys working with experienced and talented creatives and all involvement in a campaign is always credited.

So, nothing is original, nothing is unique, talent imitates, genius steals and all that, but I think something fishy is happening in the Fallon/Juan Cabral camp. Compare the image above, which is part of the Kozyndan pano, to this bit from the Bravia ad: it’s the same colour and shade palette for the bunnies.

So, let’s not forget that the Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Gorilla might have been “inspired” by another advert, as was pointed out here, but who can remember this classic David Letterman skit… oh, I mean first Sony Bravia Balls advert.

We love the ad. Nobody’s saying the ad sucks. We’re just declaring shenanigans, that’s all.

(Meanwhile, check out this Sony Bravia spot from Egypt!)

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