Eminem iPod Commercial a Lugs Ripoff? (Updated)

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Date: Monday, November 7th, 2005, 01:23
Category: iPod

ipod-eminem.jpg
It seems the new iPod TV commercial featuring Eminem is “very heavily inspired” by an old Lugz commercial (from 2002) that psyop did a few years back.
UPDATE: According to AppleInsider “Lugz footwear has sent a cease-and-desist letter to both Apple Computer and its ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, over similarities between a commercial “Arrow,” which Lugz aired in 2002, and a spot with Eminem that launched earlier this month for Apple’s iPod and iTunes, AdWeek is reporting.”
Think Legal!


ipod-eminem.jpg
It seems the new iPod TV commercial featuring Eminem is “very heavily inspired” by an old Lugz commercial (from 2002) that psyop did a few years back.
UPDATE: According to AppleInsider “Lugz footwear has sent a cease-and-desist letter to both Apple Computer and its ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, over similarities between a commercial “Arrow,” which Lugz aired in 2002, and a spot with Eminem that launched earlier this month for Apple’s iPod and iTunes, AdWeek is reporting.”
Think Legal!

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  • CHEY

    Seems pretty identical, except the LUGZ commerical is all computer animated with no live dancers. Otherwise, nearly identical with the same reddish hue to it.

  • http://ryanwhitham.com Ryan Whitham

    It doesn’t surprise me. The original silhouette campaign was a rip off of a Toronto radio station ad that featured silhouettes of people dancing. You can view them on the agency website. http://www.taxi.ca Go to “Where to” at the top > What we do > Case Studies >Flow >Television (Top right corner) sorry, its flash so i can’t link directly.

  • RB

    Has it ever occured that Apple hired the same people to produce the eminem ipod spot that produced the Lugz commercial?
    All the comparison between the two ads doesn’t mean anything unless it is an outright ripoff of the ad.
    My 2

  • L

    Well.. Psyop did the Lugz commercial and they didn’t do the Ipod commercial..

  • R

    Hate to break it to you, but ideas are cheap. Every artist knows that. Unless they’re lucky, every art student has suffered a broken heart when they realise someone else had the exact same idea. It’s the execution of the idea that counts (which is why patent law is so screwy). What makes the iPod silhouette commercial different? The highlights: the earbuds, the iPod. Oh yeah, by the way, I was doing silhouette dancer animation in 1996.

  • Erin

    Funny how orange is somehow the official representative of the urban culture. Hiphop style is all about ripping stuff off anyway. This ad is just a natural progression of the silouettes theme with the hiphop twist.

  • http://www.reelsmart.com Stephen Antonucci

    Other than the hue of the commercial I see little similarity in these ads. I see many ads using a nice sunshine and a blue sky, are they also the same?
    This entire thing is stupid and just gave a basically dead company Lugz some play time.

  • Kevin

    After comparing both ads, I would have to say that while similar they are not the same. It is perfectly legal to do something similar to something else. How many commercials have a car driving down a road? Lots of car commercials in fact use the exact same road in Marin County California. Someone must be violating something here, but no alas it’s okay to be simial, it’s just not okay to steal someone elses work.