Time was, advertising stole many of its best creative ideas from the film industry. Now there is the Internet and user generated content.
3M is feeling the negative backlash of picking up on an office prank that went viral (some time ago) and replicating the idea in its own advertising campaign.
The original prank pics are here, the 3M story explained here and a BL Ochman slap administered here.
The silly thing is, why didn't 3M just make an offer for the rights?
If they had offered the equivalent of a day's professional photoshoot and the agency time taken to replicate the shots, then I'd guess the average citizen creative would have taken that as good money for some time spent two years ago messing about with a colleague's car at work. And if they hadn't, at least 3M would have a defence.
Tags: 3M, Jaguar Post-It Notes, , BL Ochman