did the manny villar campaign plagiarize a Cannes Lions award winning argentina tv ad?

the above villar tv ad is a plagiarized version of the argentina tv ad, below. it copies the main creative handle. 

the ad from aregentina is from SAVAGLIO/TBWA aregentina and the local ad agency of villar is reported to be Santiago/Puno/Mangada/TBWA. it’s possible the local ad agency paid royalties to the argentina ad agency or permission was given for use in the philippines.

ad agencies belonging to the same netwrok do share their work with each other through corporate reels and that could have been how the local agency new about the argentina tv ad. there are other ways to know about this ad – the argentina tv ad is an award winning tv ad and that also gives it a lot of exposure among the international ad agencies. being award winning also gives it a lot of exposure to the public like the internet or youtube.

sharing the ad with other agencies in the same network does not necessarily result to it being used in other countries. advertising ideas and concepts are owned by the clients, not the ad agencies. clients pay the ad agencies to write and produce advertising for them, the output is always owned by the client.

if an ad agency network like TBWA philippines would want to use an idea coming from another branch like TBWA Argentina,  the philippine ad agency through the aregentina agency will need to ask the permission of the argentina client.

however, it is very unusual that a client who owns the original advertising will agree to allow another client of the agency network to use the work done for them.

it is also very unusual that the creatives of the local ad agency like TBWA philippines will want to use the creative idea from another ad agency. the  very core of being a creative in the creative department of an ad agency is that you are creative. being creative means being original. there is a lot of pride in their work and abilities.

this whole thing is confusing to us. TBWA philippines, if it is the ad agency of villar, has a reputation of being one of the most creative in the philippine ad industry. we are puzzled why they needed to copy from another even if it belongs to the same ad agency network.  

information from youtube:

This excellent political advertisement, it won the silver lion in the Cannes Lions Contest 2006.

Category: Public Awareness Messages
Title: TRUTH
Advertiser: RECREAR
Product or Service: POLITICAL MESSAGE
Entrant Company, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Advertising Agency, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARG This excellent political advertisement, it won the silver lion in the Cannes Lions Contest 2006.

Category: Public Awareness Messages
Title: TRUTH
Advertiser: RECREAR
Product or Service: POLITICAL MESSAGE
Entrant Company, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Advertising Agency, City: SAVAGLIO\TBWA, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Creative Director: Ernesto Savaglio
Copywriter: Ernesto Savaglio – Alexis Alvarez
Art Director: Pablo Carrera
Agency Producer: Eduardo Suárez
Production Company, City: AWARDS CINE, Buenos Aires
Country: ARGENTINA
Director: Jojó/Bosco
Producer: Fernando Rambo Damiano
Editor: Awards Cine
Music: Fernando Sorín
Account Supervisor: Ricardo Martino/Diego Campos Galante