Old friend The Reverse Cowgirl points to yet another example of an ad agency’s use of an artist’s work without obtaining permission or providing credit. Writing on Constant Siege, Clayton Cubitt claims BBDO Athens created a direct rip off of photographer Jamie Nelson’s work for an ad they did for Dexim. The photo used in the BBDO-created Dexim ad bears a striking resemblance to a photo Nelson took in 2006 and had published on the cover of July/August 2007 issue of Blink.
When contacted, Nelson provided Adrants with an armful of information supporting the notion BBDO Athens did, in fact, closely copy her work. BBDO Athens has been contacted but they have not yet responded. Likely BBDO Athens fully intended to mirror Nelson’s work but somehow the permission process was mistakenly overlooked. I’ll reserve final judgment until I’ve made contact with BBDO Athens to hear their side of the story.
UPDATE: We mis-reported (bad source information) the agency in question was BBDO Atlanta. It is actually BBDO Athens. Thanks to Atlanta-based Brent Terrazas for pointing out the error.
