such a blatant copycat.
The difference is perhaps between blood and sweet - but the whole execution of using stylished body fluids is 100% identical. Swear of their graves that the creative team have not seen those photographs earlier.. shame shame
Jason - 14 years ago
South China Morning Post reports today that Hong Kong Government is funding to send these 'winners' to 3 overseas international advertisement awards.
Ad award winners get funds to shine overseas
Vivienne Chow
Nov 30, 2009
A new funding scheme aims to see home-grown advertising talent acknowledged on the world stage.
CreateHK has earmarked HK$600,000 from the HK$300 million CreateSmart Initiative to fund winners of the Kam Fan Awards, the grand prix of Hong Kong advertising.
Winners of the awards, organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong (HK4As), will attend three prestigious international advertising award ceremonies - the Cannes Advertising Festival in France, D&AD in Britain, and Spikes Asia in Singapore.
The money will also fund participation by local young advertising professionals in two competitions in Southeast Asia.
Alan Siu, acting head of CreateHK, said more exposure for local creative talent on the international stage was important for the development of the creative industries.
"But if these companies choose not to go because of finances, it'll be a real pity," Siu said. "By providing assistance to participants, we hope the talent can shine on the world stage."
Siu said that the Film Development Fund had been funding Hong Kong films' participation in international film festivals, and many had garnered international acclaim and awards - boosting the reputation of the Hong Kong film industry.
Siu said those representing Hong Kong at international advertising awards could also attend seminars and network with world-class talent.
"When they return to Hong Kong, HK4As will arrange for them to share their experiences with industry practitioners," Siu said.
The modest funding would cover participants' air tickets and accommodation, and participants would be required to share rooms, where appropriate, Siu said.
HK4As said the estimated cost of the six-day trip to the Cannes awards was HK$38,000 per person.
Representing Hong Kong at the three international advertising award ceremonies will be two representatives of Leo Burnett Hong Kong, which won the grand Kam Fan and print Kam Fan awards for its Life Yoga "Sweat Campaign"; and one representative from McCann Worldgroup Hong Kong, which won the interactive/direct Kam Fan category with its "One Walk" campaign for Jet Li's One Foundation.
Leo Burnett Hong Kong executive creative director Connie Lo said she was grateful for the sponsorship and that without government sponsorship, a decision to attend the awards would have been difficult.
Siu said CreateHK was also discussing similar funding plans for other creative industry talent.
As of October, CreateHK has received more than 30 applications for funding from the CreateSmart Initiative and nine, involving HK$15 million, have been approved.
m&m - 14 years ago
i agree w Jason, Connielo shld have mentioned john ross, its right and also would hv stopped spencer and TK to spread this all over Media.that stupid reportern.
Why do Media not mention Sony and Coke, Mccann copied it.full stop.I ageee that lb is wrong,connielo is wrong, but i wonder why no report on coke?
jason - 14 years ago
Fine if you 'borrow' ideas, or 'evolve' ideas, as long as you are open about it. Did LB name Ross in their award acceptance speech? Did they say 'apologies to Ross' on their print add as some political cartoonists would then they adapt existing magary to bring a new point across? Did they fuck. They took the client's money to come up with new ideas, and they took the easy way out, without acknowledging the idea originator.
blah - 14 years ago
agree with 16. keep blaming Burnett cannot move the whole thing forward.
White - 14 years ago
I read from a book
"Good design ~ don't borrow the idea, should steal it"
Anyways, it is not original! So don't name it with the word of creative
gambo - 14 years ago
Liar!
"Lo said the agency had emailed Ross at the time of the campaign. "
"Ross said he was not aware of the Leo Burnett campaign when it was first released. He was informed about the campaign when Leo Burnett approached him shortly before the Kam Fan about shooting the second phase."
16 - 14 years ago
I'd suggest M&M to change the topic to "Does it matter if an agency borrowed the idea from somewhere else; eventually such work won a so called the best of local creative award?"
http://www.bestadsontv.com/people.php?id=5620
What do you think about the Orange "Dance" TVC when compared with the Lohas Park "Dance" TVC? Did it win anything? I couldn't remember!
haha - 14 years ago
Dear li, good point, but you are so familar with those sources of copying. i guess you are also working in one of the creative agencies in HK ad industry. Any suggestion to improve your industry? your agency and your works?
li - 14 years ago
excuse me, it s not ok... LB is copying the visual from a CD cover, while Mccann is also copying the idea from the SONY rec me campaign !!!! i dont care its the grand kam fan or kam fan or what media uses....so the idea is not counted? what kind of advertising awards is this?
haha - 14 years ago
I don't think Coke Whistling campaign is excellent compared to other great world-aclaimed campaigns done by McCann these two years.
I think the LB's sweat campaign is of very high standard ( sadly it might be copycat ), among most of the LBs shitty & scams works done in these years.
But we are talking about the Grand Kam Fan ( represent HK ), and Media Kan Fan ( represent Media Use ). I don't think Sweat campaign should represent and encouraged as the grand piece for HK advertising, but Coke Whistling campaign is ok, since Media Kam is judged more on the media strategy, real impact & its effectiveness.
m&m - 14 years ago
yes media magazine will not 'port' mccann,they like them,they agency of theyear. that stupid reporter only report lb coz someone feed him story,everyone knw who.!!! ya! lb n mccann shld be banned by 4as!
Great!! Nothing can deny..
hong kong creative judges...really had no sense!!
though that is only a game..
pandagun - 14 years ago
same same shame on LB and Mccann....... i miss paul chan and kc....
pandagun - 14 years ago
wow what the fxxk?
see this!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.kleinerfisch.com/blog/2009/01/naoki-ito4-sony-rec-you.html
is the judge blind? or someone playing tricks here?
how come the coca cola whistling machine straight copy this 2007 sony idea?
m&m - 14 years ago
O mu god!! Ive just seen the Sony REC U!! how can ppl do this??!!Its exactly the same...Shame on u Mccann, Connielo and Spencerwong u both should team up.!!!!
sws - 14 years ago
More than this campaign. The Media Kam Fan- HK Coka Cola "Whistling Machine" is EXACTLY THE SAME as the Sony Japan "REC YOU" campaign. Same mechanics, same layout!
What's going on???
loh - 14 years ago
unbelievable
Just the Media question is resuming the situation
Does it matter if Leo Burnett borrowed the idea from somewhere else?
Borrowing, in this context is more copying then creating!
LB get up and renew your creativity, LB was standing for innovation and creativity, not such cheap lazy copycat! respect your house
lei - 14 years ago
Do you guys really intend to put that shame on international award show?
you gonna get burned boys! not sure Mother base will really appreciate that kind of scandals outside the island!
lei - 14 years ago
Hoho
seems LB people come to rescue
Guys, that was not an idea, that cheap creative seen the pic, then makes "his idea" of it!
I can't believe you guys can't admit it!
Mr Burnett is turning on his grave, you put shame on his name!
idea - 14 years ago
everyone knows LB are good at doing aeroplane ad. that's a fact.
the very same team has done two ads for 2 yoga classes. is it ethical for a company to hold two competitive accounts and handled by same team?
maybe they are so good at the game. they just showed us how easy it's to trick the judges and win an award. Especially at the time when every awards show is talking about banning scam ads.
LB, you are just too good in doing aeroplane ad.
sour sweet - 14 years ago
so, where are we now? r we gonna go deeper into this "award" discussion??
let's focus on what we r good at -- creativity, okay?
Patrick - 14 years ago
YA
yeah, let's keep our fingers crossed ;-)
Gary - 14 years ago
It's not fair to deny LB's sucess and creative !
YA - 14 years ago
At the end, KAM FAN is only a local award. Whether the work can go further to win in other international award shows will justify it's really "creative" or not, let's wait and see!
Vicky - 14 years ago
Using woman's body and gesture as key visual is common, LB just makes this idea more perfect and creative. Resources are out there.... but how to make use of it can really show how creative u are!!!~
BSK - 14 years ago
Wow, some of the wordings are very strong and very sour grapes feel…
MK - 14 years ago
if John Ross' photos don't have a theme, how can we treat it as copycat? i just can't believe it...
EB - 14 years ago
I totally agree with DL. It is a "More than Nicely done" work but it doesn't deserves the Grand Prix in Kam Fam.
DL - 14 years ago
In terms of idea, it's not a copycat definitely. In terms of execution, they look the same.
If someone think this is a copycat, it only means the work do not deserve the award only!
mike - 14 years ago
hey, lazy LBers. seen today new 1010 ad. The tagline is "never settle for less". exactly the same as the tagline you guy created for heineken few years ago.
you guys at LB are Lazy Bastards. Shame on the team who did that.
lei - 14 years ago
sorry, you can see i am art based, got two typos in one comment ;-)
but Art you still not excuse neither Leo
I am sure Mr L B would rather fired the team than trying justifying it as LB is doing now!
lei - 14 years ago
Alt
Is it your work?
I mean, this is such lame excuse, this is a pure copycat, add a logo, chane the position and here we go!
Don't get too personal, the sad part is that's quite common in hk! not the first and saddly not the last.
Again, only ban could stop lazy so called creative to copy and maybe, hope last one to die, get really creative!
After all, isn't it for that thrill we enter this industry?
Heart - 14 years ago
No big problem on winning, no big issue on discussion, and no big need on explaining...
However, it's as the movie - Big Fish.
how we tell the next generation what they should do ?
King of Negative Power - 14 years ago
What's the meaning of creative?
to make something new?
or never see before?
If everythings are not new.....
So.....what is new??????????
There just old things in the world now??
WTF......
Don't need try to ague~
It is old ~And it is copycat!!!!!
john - 14 years ago
this campaign shocks me twice: at the show ( i couldn't believe it wins! ) and after I see the original work ( I wish I had never done that )
cho & fong - 14 years ago
cong. Leo...u did it!! this is the most effective camp u have ever done.
SimonX - 14 years ago
Well ...is there any truly unique creativity out there. Frankly speaking there are limited. The issue here is that the ad won an award. Maybe the judges supposed to do more homework. Flying into Hong Kong in Business Class tickets , at least the panel need to be responsible for something.
simon - 14 years ago
@alt
While I think there's a big difference between your pyramid/louvre example and an ad agency using a photographer's idea and work (almost exactly) for their campaign, I do not personally have any issue with creatives being inspired by art, photography, music, film, life, architecture, whatever.
I'm just not sure the judges would have wanted to be seen as selecting it as the most exceptional idea/execution of the competition, had they known the photography existed.
As creatives themselves, they might well have objected to it being a Grand Prix. After all it reflects on their judgement. Ask them.
Jerry - 14 years ago
HK Ad industry is filled with delusional people. They like to stick a "creative" label on their foreheads but have no respect for it. Just wonder how it was like for them to go on stage grabbing the award knowing "part of the creative" was "borrowed" from another piece of work. The funny thing is that they've found a way to justify...in the name of creative. Give me a break
Alt - 14 years ago
not much, just wonder if the louvre pyramid designer paid any recognition to imhotep or khufu..... anyone thinks that pyramid is copycat? or if its just inspiration?
simon - 14 years ago
@Alt
Huh?
Alt - 14 years ago
should we blame Einstein and e=mc2 for the destruction of 2 japanese cities? Einstein's idea for the abomb takes credit? maybe FDR and those who built it? or those who pull the trigger?
lets give Einstein some recognition after we dropped the abomb.
Anyone looking at the two executions is blind if they think the two are different. Without doubt, Leo's creative people should have contacted the originator-the photographer who created the image (his vision/his inspiration) first and ask him to re-shoot it or buy the rights to use it. He owns the idea - for heavens sake. he should have won the Kam Fan. You can't just pick up something like this, re-shoot it and slap a logo on it and call it yours. Did Leo give recognition to the true author of this when they entered the awards? Shame on them.
mike fromowitz (ex-kam fan winner)
Anyone looking at the two executions is blind if they think the two are different. Without doubt, Leo's creative people should have contacted the originator-the photographer who created the image (his vision/his inspiration) first and ask him to re-shoot it or buy the rights to use it. He owns the idea - for heavens sake. he should have won the Kam Fan. You can't just pick up something like this, re-shoot it and slap a logo on it and call it yours. Did Leo give recognition to the true author of this when they entered the awards? Shame on them.
mike fromowitz (ex-kam fan winner)
simon - 14 years ago
Whether or not this 'initiative' campaign is a rip-off or not, is not the point.
It is undeniable that the idea was inspired by the photographers' work.
The question is, had the judges known that the creatives had merely taken a distinct photographic concept and stuck a yoga tagline underneath it, would they still have been prepared to award the the Grand Prix?
lei - 14 years ago
Total copycat
Again, HK is showing is poor creative level, too much copycat, no brain work.
We had exactly the same issue for the 50years of the 4A's, shine campaign.
We should ban agencies and creatives, at least a year, responsible of such plagiat, like this work which is a 100% copycat (ok you add a logo), maybe that would push creative to use their brain, not their references!
No I wouldn't call this copycat or rip off, I will call it an evolution, this happens all the time, today there is nothing new, look at what happened to the telephone, the iphone is not new, it's an evolution.
such a blatant copycat.
The difference is perhaps between blood and sweet - but the whole execution of using stylished body fluids is 100% identical. Swear of their graves that the creative team have not seen those photographs earlier.. shame shame
South China Morning Post reports today that Hong Kong Government is funding to send these 'winners' to 3 overseas international advertisement awards.
Ad award winners get funds to shine overseas
Vivienne Chow
Nov 30, 2009
A new funding scheme aims to see home-grown advertising talent acknowledged on the world stage.
CreateHK has earmarked HK$600,000 from the HK$300 million CreateSmart Initiative to fund winners of the Kam Fan Awards, the grand prix of Hong Kong advertising.
Winners of the awards, organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong (HK4As), will attend three prestigious international advertising award ceremonies - the Cannes Advertising Festival in France, D&AD in Britain, and Spikes Asia in Singapore.
The money will also fund participation by local young advertising professionals in two competitions in Southeast Asia.
Alan Siu, acting head of CreateHK, said more exposure for local creative talent on the international stage was important for the development of the creative industries.
"But if these companies choose not to go because of finances, it'll be a real pity," Siu said. "By providing assistance to participants, we hope the talent can shine on the world stage."
Siu said that the Film Development Fund had been funding Hong Kong films' participation in international film festivals, and many had garnered international acclaim and awards - boosting the reputation of the Hong Kong film industry.
Siu said those representing Hong Kong at international advertising awards could also attend seminars and network with world-class talent.
"When they return to Hong Kong, HK4As will arrange for them to share their experiences with industry practitioners," Siu said.
The modest funding would cover participants' air tickets and accommodation, and participants would be required to share rooms, where appropriate, Siu said.
HK4As said the estimated cost of the six-day trip to the Cannes awards was HK$38,000 per person.
Representing Hong Kong at the three international advertising award ceremonies will be two representatives of Leo Burnett Hong Kong, which won the grand Kam Fan and print Kam Fan awards for its Life Yoga "Sweat Campaign"; and one representative from McCann Worldgroup Hong Kong, which won the interactive/direct Kam Fan category with its "One Walk" campaign for Jet Li's One Foundation.
Leo Burnett Hong Kong executive creative director Connie Lo said she was grateful for the sponsorship and that without government sponsorship, a decision to attend the awards would have been difficult.
Siu said CreateHK was also discussing similar funding plans for other creative industry talent.
As of October, CreateHK has received more than 30 applications for funding from the CreateSmart Initiative and nine, involving HK$15 million, have been approved.
i agree w Jason, Connielo shld have mentioned john ross, its right and also would hv stopped spencer and TK to spread this all over Media.that stupid reportern.
Why do Media not mention Sony and Coke, Mccann copied it.full stop.I ageee that lb is wrong,connielo is wrong, but i wonder why no report on coke?
Fine if you 'borrow' ideas, or 'evolve' ideas, as long as you are open about it. Did LB name Ross in their award acceptance speech? Did they say 'apologies to Ross' on their print add as some political cartoonists would then they adapt existing magary to bring a new point across? Did they fuck. They took the client's money to come up with new ideas, and they took the easy way out, without acknowledging the idea originator.
agree with 16. keep blaming Burnett cannot move the whole thing forward.
I read from a book
"Good design ~ don't borrow the idea, should steal it"
Anyways, it is not original! So don't name it with the word of creative
Liar!
"Lo said the agency had emailed Ross at the time of the campaign. "
"Ross said he was not aware of the Leo Burnett campaign when it was first released. He was informed about the campaign when Leo Burnett approached him shortly before the Kam Fan about shooting the second phase."
I'd suggest M&M to change the topic to "Does it matter if an agency borrowed the idea from somewhere else; eventually such work won a so called the best of local creative award?"
http://www.bestadsontv.com/people.php?id=5620
What do you think about the Orange "Dance" TVC when compared with the Lohas Park "Dance" TVC? Did it win anything? I couldn't remember!
Dear li, good point, but you are so familar with those sources of copying. i guess you are also working in one of the creative agencies in HK ad industry. Any suggestion to improve your industry? your agency and your works?
excuse me, it s not ok... LB is copying the visual from a CD cover, while Mccann is also copying the idea from the SONY rec me campaign !!!! i dont care its the grand kam fan or kam fan or what media uses....so the idea is not counted? what kind of advertising awards is this?
I don't think Coke Whistling campaign is excellent compared to other great world-aclaimed campaigns done by McCann these two years.
I think the LB's sweat campaign is of very high standard ( sadly it might be copycat ), among most of the LBs shitty & scams works done in these years.
But we are talking about the Grand Kam Fan ( represent HK ), and Media Kan Fan ( represent Media Use ). I don't think Sweat campaign should represent and encouraged as the grand piece for HK advertising, but Coke Whistling campaign is ok, since Media Kam is judged more on the media strategy, real impact & its effectiveness.
yes media magazine will not 'port' mccann,they like them,they agency of theyear. that stupid reporter only report lb coz someone feed him story,everyone knw who.!!! ya! lb n mccann shld be banned by 4as!
http://www.media.asia/newsarticle/2009_11/Leo-Burnett-hits-back-at-Kam-Fan-copycat-claims/37903
Great!! Nothing can deny..
hong kong creative judges...really had no sense!!
though that is only a game..
same same shame on LB and Mccann....... i miss paul chan and kc....
wow what the fxxk?
see this!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.kleinerfisch.com/blog/2009/01/naoki-ito4-sony-rec-you.html
is the judge blind? or someone playing tricks here?
how come the coca cola whistling machine straight copy this 2007 sony idea?
O mu god!! Ive just seen the Sony REC U!! how can ppl do this??!!Its exactly the same...Shame on u Mccann, Connielo and Spencerwong u both should team up.!!!!
More than this campaign. The Media Kam Fan- HK Coka Cola "Whistling Machine" is EXACTLY THE SAME as the Sony Japan "REC YOU" campaign. Same mechanics, same layout!
What's going on???
unbelievable
Just the Media question is resuming the situation
Does it matter if Leo Burnett borrowed the idea from somewhere else?
Borrowing, in this context is more copying then creating!
LB get up and renew your creativity, LB was standing for innovation and creativity, not such cheap lazy copycat! respect your house
Do you guys really intend to put that shame on international award show?
you gonna get burned boys! not sure Mother base will really appreciate that kind of scandals outside the island!
Hoho
seems LB people come to rescue
Guys, that was not an idea, that cheap creative seen the pic, then makes "his idea" of it!
I can't believe you guys can't admit it!
Mr Burnett is turning on his grave, you put shame on his name!
everyone knows LB are good at doing aeroplane ad. that's a fact.
the very same team has done two ads for 2 yoga classes. is it ethical for a company to hold two competitive accounts and handled by same team?
maybe they are so good at the game. they just showed us how easy it's to trick the judges and win an award. Especially at the time when every awards show is talking about banning scam ads.
LB, you are just too good in doing aeroplane ad.
so, where are we now? r we gonna go deeper into this "award" discussion??
let's focus on what we r good at -- creativity, okay?
YA
yeah, let's keep our fingers crossed ;-)
It's not fair to deny LB's sucess and creative !
At the end, KAM FAN is only a local award. Whether the work can go further to win in other international award shows will justify it's really "creative" or not, let's wait and see!
Using woman's body and gesture as key visual is common, LB just makes this idea more perfect and creative. Resources are out there.... but how to make use of it can really show how creative u are!!!~
Wow, some of the wordings are very strong and very sour grapes feel…
if John Ross' photos don't have a theme, how can we treat it as copycat? i just can't believe it...
I totally agree with DL. It is a "More than Nicely done" work but it doesn't deserves the Grand Prix in Kam Fam.
In terms of idea, it's not a copycat definitely. In terms of execution, they look the same.
If someone think this is a copycat, it only means the work do not deserve the award only!
hey, lazy LBers. seen today new 1010 ad. The tagline is "never settle for less". exactly the same as the tagline you guy created for heineken few years ago.
you guys at LB are Lazy Bastards. Shame on the team who did that.
sorry, you can see i am art based, got two typos in one comment ;-)
but Art you still not excuse neither Leo
I am sure Mr L B would rather fired the team than trying justifying it as LB is doing now!
Alt
Is it your work?
I mean, this is such lame excuse, this is a pure copycat, add a logo, chane the position and here we go!
Don't get too personal, the sad part is that's quite common in hk! not the first and saddly not the last.
Again, only ban could stop lazy so called creative to copy and maybe, hope last one to die, get really creative!
After all, isn't it for that thrill we enter this industry?
No big problem on winning, no big issue on discussion, and no big need on explaining...
However, it's as the movie - Big Fish.
how we tell the next generation what they should do ?
What's the meaning of creative?
to make something new?
or never see before?
If everythings are not new.....
So.....what is new??????????
There just old things in the world now??
WTF......
Don't need try to ague~
It is old ~And it is copycat!!!!!
this campaign shocks me twice: at the show ( i couldn't believe it wins! ) and after I see the original work ( I wish I had never done that )
cong. Leo...u did it!! this is the most effective camp u have ever done.
Well ...is there any truly unique creativity out there. Frankly speaking there are limited. The issue here is that the ad won an award. Maybe the judges supposed to do more homework. Flying into Hong Kong in Business Class tickets , at least the panel need to be responsible for something.
@alt
While I think there's a big difference between your pyramid/louvre example and an ad agency using a photographer's idea and work (almost exactly) for their campaign, I do not personally have any issue with creatives being inspired by art, photography, music, film, life, architecture, whatever.
I'm just not sure the judges would have wanted to be seen as selecting it as the most exceptional idea/execution of the competition, had they known the photography existed.
As creatives themselves, they might well have objected to it being a Grand Prix. After all it reflects on their judgement. Ask them.
HK Ad industry is filled with delusional people. They like to stick a "creative" label on their foreheads but have no respect for it. Just wonder how it was like for them to go on stage grabbing the award knowing "part of the creative" was "borrowed" from another piece of work. The funny thing is that they've found a way to justify...in the name of creative. Give me a break
not much, just wonder if the louvre pyramid designer paid any recognition to imhotep or khufu..... anyone thinks that pyramid is copycat? or if its just inspiration?
@Alt
Huh?
should we blame Einstein and e=mc2 for the destruction of 2 japanese cities? Einstein's idea for the abomb takes credit? maybe FDR and those who built it? or those who pull the trigger?
lets give Einstein some recognition after we dropped the abomb.
Anyone looking at the two executions is blind if they think the two are different. Without doubt, Leo's creative people should have contacted the originator-the photographer who created the image (his vision/his inspiration) first and ask him to re-shoot it or buy the rights to use it. He owns the idea - for heavens sake. he should have won the Kam Fan. You can't just pick up something like this, re-shoot it and slap a logo on it and call it yours. Did Leo give recognition to the true author of this when they entered the awards? Shame on them.
mike fromowitz (ex-kam fan winner)
Anyone looking at the two executions is blind if they think the two are different. Without doubt, Leo's creative people should have contacted the originator-the photographer who created the image (his vision/his inspiration) first and ask him to re-shoot it or buy the rights to use it. He owns the idea - for heavens sake. he should have won the Kam Fan. You can't just pick up something like this, re-shoot it and slap a logo on it and call it yours. Did Leo give recognition to the true author of this when they entered the awards? Shame on them.
mike fromowitz (ex-kam fan winner)
Whether or not this 'initiative' campaign is a rip-off or not, is not the point.
It is undeniable that the idea was inspired by the photographers' work.
The question is, had the judges known that the creatives had merely taken a distinct photographic concept and stuck a yoga tagline underneath it, would they still have been prepared to award the the Grand Prix?
Total copycat
Again, HK is showing is poor creative level, too much copycat, no brain work.
We had exactly the same issue for the 50years of the 4A's, shine campaign.
We should ban agencies and creatives, at least a year, responsible of such plagiat, like this work which is a 100% copycat (ok you add a logo), maybe that would push creative to use their brain, not their references!
No I wouldn't call this copycat or rip off, I will call it an evolution, this happens all the time, today there is nothing new, look at what happened to the telephone, the iphone is not new, it's an evolution.