With Cannes Lions 2023 around the corner, the Indian adland has been rocked by its controversy for the year. Earlier, e4m broke how two agencies Dentsu Creative and VMLY&R have locked horns over their respective Cannes Lions entries this year.

Dentsu’s Mortein - ‘Suraksha ka Kaala Teeka’ campaign and VMLY&R’s Maxx Flash – ‘Arogya Bindu’ campaign are similar in concept and execution. Both advertise mosquito repellent kajal “teekas” that parents often apply on children to ward off evil eyes. In these cases, both products also ward off mosquitos and thereby vector-borne diseases.

The campaigns submitted by the leading agencies are a striking resemblance in concept and execution, which has led to a debate within the industry about whether their entries may be flagged at the international ad fest.

Dentsu Creative has been raising concerns about the legitimacy of Maxx Flash’s product, saying that they don’t find Arogya Bindu to be authentic and they fear that it will sabotage their chances of winning at the festival. The agency has already involved its global team.

VMLY&R retorted, stating that the product is very much in use across villages in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

With both agencies having seemingly solid arguments, the issue has sparked a debate within the industry on the question of ethics and the originality of concepts.

e4m reached out to experts to understand their take on the issue.

Ad guru Prahlad Kakkar weighed in on the issue: “If the product does not exist, then the agency should rethink its participation.”

Media entrepreneur Sandeep Goyal highlighted that sometimes ideas can be in a close approximation of each other, especially when the products are so similar. “It doesn’t mean anyone has copied another agency’s idea. Independently convergence of ideas that are similar is possible. It doesn’t impact either India’s chances or image. Coincidences are part of life.”

In a similar vein, Garima Khandelwal, Former CCO at Mullen Lintas, explained why such an issue has come to a pass.

“As I understand the idea has been live at both agencies since 2019 or 2020, getting approvals. So, that’s a pretty long window and too many brand custodians shift jobs.”

She explained that sometimes, an unreleased idea or a thought handled by an agency is pitched by the former employees of that agency handling a competitive brand. “Or maybe, it’s just one of those bizarre coincidences in advertising,” she pointed out.

Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner in Enormous Brands said that both the agencies had thought the other way around which should not be the approach. He said that culturally rooted campaigns make it big at the festivals and that’s what the agencies have done. They first thought about culture and tried to fit in a brand. “And when you have an approach like that naturally you’ll end up having the same ideas,” he explained.

An expert feels that the squabble between the agencies is quite laughable. He quipped: “Anybody who’s ever been within a mile of an advertising agency knows that both these ideas are created purely for awards AKA scam-vertising. To claim the moral high ground saying ‘I thought of it first’ is just plain hilarious.”