Three days ago I saw a tweet pointing out the work that Ogilvy Jakarta had done for UPS. I have to say it ’s a very nice job, conveys all about speedy delivery and got me impressed. Few campaigns by Indonesian agencies impress me but this one was really smart and distinctive.
Unfortunately there was a similar work by New York artist Ryan Johnson from 2007. Similar is probably not quite right, they’re identical except for the colors and the package each UPS sculpture was carrying.
Now, Ogilvy Worldwide has issued an official statement saying the team in Jakarta had no knowledge of Ryan Johnson’s work. As a friend and acquaintance of some of the team members, I’d like to believe that statement very much but if I didn’t know them, I’d be very skeptical just like Co.Design editor Cliff Kuang in the piece I linked to.
On the other hand, in retrospect, it’s easy to understand how the Ogilvy team came about with that work without seeing Johnson’s sculpture. Lines are identical with speed and it’s only natural to convey the message for UPS in the way that they did.
I don’t know if any of the team member is familiar with Johnson’s work and who came up with the idea. I’ve never heard of the artist but then I’m not in the creative industry, nor do I hang out at Ffffound (did they really have to make it that difficult to spell?)
I can only imagine the flurry of correspondence between the parties involved and the facepalming across the globe. Hope things work out for you guys.
AuliaSays 