We’ve had fun over the years enjoying the pitfalls of stock photography and the seeming inability of those using it to, when warranted, sign for exclusive use. So it is with great pleasure we bring you yet another stock photography goof courtesy of Publicis Macedonia…or BlueStepStudio which had a hand in developing the Publicis site…or Ultralase, the laser eye treatment company that used the same photo.
Yesterday, we were tipped to the striking resemblance (um, identical match) of a model used in an Ultralase ad found on an AOL UK page and another used as the background image of the Publicis Macedonia homepage. Yup, there she is. Looming large, peering out from behind a frame created by her fingers akin to a film director framing a shot.
Much like unfortunate contextual ad placements, identical stock photography appearing in two places in the same industry is disheartening. Hilarious but disheartening all the same. Assuming it came from a legit stock house, is it really that difficult to find out where else the image was used? Would it be that hard for an agency to…gasp…create something original?
Of course, this could all be due to what might be the laser eye treatment company snagging the image right off the Publicis website. Or it could be the laziness of Ultralese’s agencies. The UK’s ALF directory lists Ultralase’s agencies as Doner Cardwell Hawkins and Partners Andrews Aldridge. Neither are listed as Publicis-owned.
Or it could be the other way around. We’ve asked Publicis Macedonia where they got the image but have not, since yesterday’s request, received a response.
UPDATE: We haven’t yet heard from Publicis but we have heard from Ultralese’s Keith Bond who, in the comment section, explains his company’s use of the photo and a timeline which suggests Publicis used this photo after Ultralese did.
