Adidas slams Nike for crushed car imitation

The Adidas campaign, which showed a poster of footballer Alessandro Santos following through on a kick and, on the street below, a giant Adidas ball sitting atop a crushed car, was seen in Tokyo, a co-host of the World Cup. The stunt made headlines across the globe and saw Tokyo's police file charges with the prosecutors office against Saatchi & Saatchi, which developed the campaign. The police accused the agency of designing an ad that violated traffic laws and for advertising without a permit. This month, the giant ball and crushed car made a return -- this time in Bangkok and carrying the Nike logo. The Nike stunt is part of the company's Euro 2004 global campaign, Nike Olé!, which was developed by Nike's agency Wieden & Kennedy and adapted for the local market by Ogilvy & Mather in Thailand. The campaign is also running in other Southeast Asian markets. Adidas Asia-Pacific CEO, Christophe Bezu, said the similarities in the two stunts were "astonishing". "The only exception, or difference, between (the Adidas and Nike stunts) is that our ad featured an American car and (Nike's) has a German car," he said. "(Adidas') was a very visible ad and one which (former Saatchis executive creative director) John (Merifield) was in jail for -- creating the unexpected in Japan. There should be concerns at Nike, as they appear to be short of ideas," said Bezu. "It is not Nike's way to copy, but over the last two years, they have come close to what we are doing and they have started to copy us. Even on the tone of their campaign, we see that they are coming closer to Adidas." Merrifield, now chief creative officer at Adidas agency TBWA Japan, added: "I'm flabbergasted that it would make such a startling reappearance. Without even the merest hint of an attempt to hide the indiscretion." Bezu added that plans by Nike to replicate Adidas' human billboard outdoor ad had also surfaced. "We heard that internally Nike was looking at doing something similar," he said. Nike declined to return Media's requests for comments. Adidas said it did not intend to take legal action against Nike, whose Olé! campaign includes television advertising, and aims to reach young kids and teens in the region. The Nike campaign includes a global television commercial, 'The other game', which shows the signature moves of football stars. The spot takes place before the start of a football game as Portuguese and Brazillian players compete with a series of steals and passes that kick off from the stadium's tunnel before moving on to the pitch, spectator stands and parking lot. The spot ends as the players dribble the ball back to the pitch. Additional reporting by Gunjan Prasad