Chief
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Rising Star
That's always awkward for me as well, especially when it doesn't immediately come up during the first creative check-in. I would send a casual note (preferably in a slack type of message versus email). Say all the right things. You love the idea, too. You were thinking about it and just happened to remember something similar. Just wanted to send it over to them for their thoughts. Would love to still make the idea work somehow, but...they are very close.
As an ECD I can assure you they want to know. It’s impossible to know every piece of work that’s been done. And it’s more embarrassing to get called out for copying as a leader. I would say though lots of big ideas have been almost completely duplicated and then still gone on to win lots of awards. Snickers hungerithm is a great example, was a jello idea first, and snickers won like 20 lions for it 5 years later. But regardless, I think it’s good to know.
So many. Meet Graham was a rip-off that went on to sweep the award shows when the original idea had already done so. I guess leaders often just don’t care if it’s the same idea but a different medium. Still, had I been there, I would have felt uncomfortable making it.
Rising Star
The sooner the better so the team can start work towards something else...
If your ECD is too precious to hear "oh I think I saw something like that..." then I wonder why they're in leadership at all.
Rising Star
You’re a cd and you don’t know how to have a conversation with your ecd? P.s. the answer is immediately.
Can you build upon the idea in some way while casually dropping the reference? Like... “Oh. Cool. So like Ferris Bueller Honda thing, only bigger, right? Like collide that with a 2021 version of Space Jam with characters we could port over to social.” Also, try adding Nick Offerman into the mix. ECDs who recycle old ideas love Nick Offerman.
Just say, “oh hey cool, just like that Super Bowl spot,”
Chief
This is exactly what I wanted to say. Glad it’s not just me.
Let’s build cultures where this isn’t a “delicate situation” OP, the sooner the better - love the “I think I might have seen this before...how could we shape it to be different/better...” approach someone suggested Good Luck!
I had an acd forward me a link to a spot which had already been done oversees. We had just awarded the job! Ultimately This guy saved us from producing a 4 million dollar mistake and I’ll always be thankful!
Not many. That’s why it was so important to snipe the production.
ASAP just be like “i was thinking about your great idea and remembered something, did you see this super bowl spot? Do you think they’re similar? I love the idea but should we try to modify it a bit or do you think it’s cool as is?”
Maybe tell the other team and let them break the news to ECD?
Share the link with a planner or account person
Rising Star
Just tell them. "Its a cool idea but we have to figure out how to make it different from X".
They probably know and realize that everything’s been done already and it doesn’t matter.
I would tell the team asap in a tone to make sure they change to make it better than what was made, not to just kill the idea. That would be a teamplayer move.
“Hey i was looking around at other ads for some inspiration and came across this Super Bowl ad that is similar to our idea. Maybe we can do a new take on this.”
This is tough! As others suggested, I recommend delivering the “It’s been done” news to a neutral party (account or strategy, find your best ally). They can deliver the message objectively, and keep you out of internal messiness, which, as a freelancer you perhaps want to avoid. Best of luck!
I’m at the point now where I don’t care. I’ve pointed out rip-off spots so many times and they keep rolling with it.
Rising Star
Act like you just discovered it.
I always find stuff like this petty. Tell the team. Don’t go over their head to the ecd. This isn’t your work and you are sticking your nose in “for the good of the agency” I guess? Or is it because your work didn’t go forward?
Rising Star
ACD2 is right. In my experience, teams either just 1. Shrug their shoulders and move forward as originally planned or 2. Sweat it out contemplating how they are gonna bring it up to their ECD. Essentially you're just dropping the onus onto the team. Now they have to decide what kind of message they want to send about their potentially dead idea. OP is the one who noticed the similar project. They are right to flag it. Advertising is a team sport. We can all catch things (or contribute good things) to a brief.
Send it to that agency business affairs manager who I ASSURE YOU will have to problem telling the account team of the overlap.