Dentsu Impact, Vivo share statement after HC ruling over brand's ad

Ogilvy & Mather took Vivo and Dentsu Impact to court over a rejected pitch that was allegedly wrongfully used by the brand.

Last week, the Bombay High Court had ruled that the Vivo ad featuring actor Aamir Khan was very similar to the contents of a proposal sent by ad-firm Ogilvy & Mather. The petition included Vivo and Dentsu Impact as respondents. In a statement, Dentsu Impact denied the claims made by O&M.

The statement: "We outrightly deny that the idea was copied by us. We have absolutely no reason to resort to any kind of plagiarism, as we have no dearth of talent in our agency and have enough great work and awards that prove our worth. We are an agency of strong integrity, ethics and brilliant creative talent. What we created is completely our original work, and we have always maintained this before the Hon’ble Court, as this is the fact. We do not wish to comment on the matter further, as it is still pending before the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay for final adjudication.”

Commenting on the issue, a Vivo spokesperson said, "Vivo’s values are built on strong ethical and contractual foundations. We accord a lot of attention to our work. The matter is Sub-judice and we shall wait for the law to take its course. However, the allegations are baseless and lack merit. vivo vehemently denies them and we firmly stand with the procedure of law."

As per the petition, Vivo had approached O&M in October 2018 for advertisement ideas. The firm had shared a detailed pitch which didn't go through. In September 2019, when a similar ad, created by Dentsu Impact for Vivo started airing, O&M approached the High Court.

According to the prima facie observations made by the Bombay High Court, the advertisement appeared to be similar to the rejected script shared by O&M. The court listed these in the order as below:

Bombay High Court has asked Vivo to deposit INR 1 crore or furnish a bank guarantee from a reputed bank within two weeks.

The entire ruling made by the Bombay High Court on October 15 can be read here. The court has placed the interim application for hearing and final disposal on November 22, 2019.