You copycat

According to Brand Republic, the band Groovecutters is claiming the latest ad for French Connection is a rip-off the video for their top 40 hit 'We Close Our Eyes'.

Appropriation vs Inspiration vs Skulduggery tends to be rather a subjective topic in design and advertising circles, but it seems there can be no claims of innocence here as they used the same models. And choreography. And editing. AND DIRECTOR!

This is different to the dispute about the dancing man in the Guiness ad. Relatively unknown Norwegian film director Mehdi Norowzian claimed he approached Guinness or the Agency with an idea for a spot, which was rejected but then produced. He went to court, and lost, having to pay costs of £200,000. Or the Swiss artists who claim the genius Honda ad by Wieden & Kennedy was a rip off of their short film 'Der Lauf Der Dinge'.

This video however, would have been shown on MTV, terrestrial tv and all across Europe - surely it was inevitable that someone would have seen the two and made a link. If you are going to be 'inspired' by some other cultural icon at least let a comfortable period elapse, so it will seen with something approaching fresh eyes. But the same director? PURlease...

PS We Close our Eyes was originally a hit for Go West - the first band I saw in concert, at the Hammersmith Apollo as it is now known, in about 1987. When synths in the shape of guitars ruled the world.