DIARY: Rant

<p>And thus it has arrived - yet another media issue with yet another </p><p>example of shameless ad copycats ripping ad ideas off from other, </p><p>usually better, ads. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>I refer here to the minions of ad trivia who've seemingly got the time </p><p>to monitor virtually all the ads on the planet and graciously point out </p><p>to the rest of us, when it seems like some poor writer in Bolivia has </p><p>nicked a great idea from an awards annual. Happily today, we have a </p><p>documented case of this not happening. On the right, an ad for BBC World </p><p>selling its media information service. On the left, an ad for Business </p><p>Week, selling its media information service. Amazing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the headlines here may be too small to read, trust me, they mean </p><p>the same thing: Roughly, that a good media service keeps information </p><p>simple and organised so that media doesn't just "go in one ear and out </p><p>the other". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now while the BBC ad runs currently, the Business Week ad hasn't been </p><p>seen in about 17 years. It was produced by the Richards Group in the US </p><p>and appeared briefly in a New York Art Directors exibition in 1985 but </p><p>never in the annual. The chance of anyone in BBC's ad organisation ever </p><p>seeing the Business Week ad is virtually nil. Over time it's possible </p><p>that two people, unbeknownst to each other, will come up with similar </p><p>concepts. This I can say with relative assurance. The Business Week ad </p><p>is mine. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Whoever you are, and whatever you want to get off your chest, send your </p><p>rants to rant@media.com.hk and we'll print them anonymously. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>