KTF Ad Accused of Copying Microsoft Work
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Cheil Communications, the largest advertising agency in Korea, is suspected of copying foreign ad clips in making ads for KTF's video call service, for the second time in three months.
DC Inside, a major Internet community, raised the question on Wednesday that Cheil's ad called ``KTF Show'' has plagiarized a TV ad of Microsoft's Zune music player in the United States. The Web site posted several screen shots of each clip, prompting visitors to accuse the Korean ad company of plagiarism.
The advertisment had a scene that featured multiple handsets lining up on a dark background with the camera zooming in and out repeatedly. The Microsoft Zune ad showed a similar setting and camera movements, though their details varied.
KTF and Cheil were first suspected of copying foreign ads in August when an unidentified Internet user spread a clip of an outdated TV ad featuring animation characters, which greatly resembled that of a KTF ad.
Cheil, a Samsung Group subsidiary, denied the allegations, saying that it is a pure coincidence. However, the firm said that it may replace the scene if if causes too much bad publicity.
``It is a 40-second ad and those people are talking about only three seconds of it,'' a public relations official of Cheil Communications said. ``We had no reason to take risks by copying other's work for such an unimportant scene.
``I saw the Microsoft Zune ad only after the rumor broke out. It is a common technique in this field to show a mobile phone screen and then to zoom out,'' he said.
``KTF Show'' is South Korea's first video call service based on the WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) network, often referred to as a 3G telecom technology. It was launched in March, and a series of witty advertisements drew big attention from the TV audience.
KTF has been a distant second player in the telecom market after market leader SK Telecom, and the firm has made massive investment in promoting its video telephony service.