Thursday, July 15

Rip Off...

Have you all seen the latest AT&T commercials on TV? My opinion is that they are a total rip-off, despite their "legal clause" stating otherwise at the end of the ad. Who signed off on this? What ad team thought this was a good idea? This is all a total rip-off of Christo & Jeanne-Claude. If you don't know them, you should. Cathy & I had the joy of learning all about Christo & Jeanne-Claude one summer during an Art History class with Gigi (or as a fellow student called her, Gig-ee). I had the pleasure of seeing Christo & Jean-Claude in Telluride during Mountainfilm a couple of years ago. Seeing them in person only made me appreciate them more.

Anyway, shame on you AT&T for stealing their concept - and doing so poorly with the execution. Boo.

The real deal.
The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979 – 2005

Fraud.
AT&T’s “Blanket” Commercial, released May, 2010

This does not make it better.

PS. I still want an iPhone though. Sigh.

[images: via Design Crisis]

7 comments:

Jennifer M Koskinen said...

I totally agree!!! (not surprisingly, I also facebooked about this a few weeks back!)

I find it particularly ironic given their whole view of corporate involvement in their own art! (Did you see them when they came to Mountainfilm a few years ago??)

Jennifer M Koskinen said...

Oops - I'm a dork! I see now that you DID see them during Mountainfilm ...
I heard on NPR they are doing the environmental studies for the "over the river" piece which they showed that day.

Sonchia said...

Yes, I do understand the irony & was therefore curious why they were NOT involved with this campaign. Still don't think AT&T should have ripped them off though - and so poorly.

Guess I missed your FB post about this. Oops. Like that we both think about things like this though!

Right, I should research to see the latest with their river project. I missed the NYC Gates (grrr), so I MUST see this CO project when/if it happens.

Jennifer M Koskinen said...

The whole AT&T thing is crazy to me- and honestly, their added "disclaimer" about Christo + Jeanne Claude having no affiliation - it feels to me like a blatant admission of their ripping them off, especially that the ad originally ran without that end text but they were forced to add it!

Intellectual property is such an interesting thing...

I'll totally go see the river project if it happens, too... even though I am admittedly conflicted as to whether or not they can pull it off with zero negative environmental impact...

Rebecca said...

The fact that they added that little disclaimer at the end totally shows that they knew they were ripping them off. Ugh. Thank you for opening my eyes to this and the original work of C & J-C.

CathyP said...

OK..so I laugh everytime I see this ad. 1) because it is a blatant rip-off and lame (really they used ORANGE? C'mon!)...and 2) because it reminds me of Gig-ee and 32oz sodas, and short shorts with J.Crew Clogs, and Guacamole, and Sadie's, and Knitting, and road trips, and bad boyfriends, and The Buffet and last but not least...hiding Hot Dogs in my bag just in case :) MWAH!

Ashley Turner said...

I think ATT's commercial is a little annoying... I visited the Gates several times as I was living in NYC! It was truly one of the most memorable experiences in my life when they unrolled the fabric! Amazing!