Nothing is original these days but that’s not a problem

The first video in this post is an ad for Freesat (UK TV service), the second video is from youtube called ‘Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years’. The second has been viewed over 12 million times and was posted over 2 years before the freesat ad. Notice any similarities??

Clearly the Freesat ad has taken ideas from the youtube video, and this is certainly not the first time this has happened. You’ll find a lot of ads on TV that have taken ideas from youtube content (try the latest aero ad). Furthermore, this practice is not restricted to video, you’ll see it in all communication channels. For example new Skittles social media portal site clearly took ideas from the agency Modernista! who previously used the idea for their agency website.

On the surface of it, it appears we have a new problem. But the truth of the matter is that it’s nothing new, and it’s anything but a problem.

So the freesat ad took an idea from a youtube video, the skittles site took an idea from Modernista! But is anyone actually losing out? Most people don’t post videos to youtube for financial reward, they do it to share their ideas, to gain views, and respect. What better compliment could your video be paid than having the idea used by a major brand? On the other hand what better compliment could a digital agency get than having their idea used by a rival agency for a major brand. I imagine hits to their site shot up as a result of all the skittles site talk.

People have been taking ideas since the the beginning of time, Shakespeare found most of his ideas from other plays, do you think Ford came up with the concept of the wheel? But now thanks to the Internet the real influencers can be found, even if people do not pay direct compliments to their influences someone else will, what’s more the evidence will be time stamped on the Internet for all to see. The point to remember is that the taking of others ideas is nothing new, it’s just become far more visible.

We need to appreciate that all great ideas will be influenced by other ideas, what’s more it’s impossible for any idea not to be influenced by the context within which it’s created. For example, any idea for a web based idea will be largely defined by the context and concept of the Internet. Furthermore, when we appreciate broader factors of context such as the culture, society, and even scientific paradigm (See Hume) in which an idea is created it becomes truly apparent just how unoriginal any idea really is.

So next time you think you’ve seen a blatant rip off, appreciate the compliment this is to the ‘original’ idea, appreciate how the idea has been used, and appreciate that nothing is original anyway.