Plagiarism in Advertising: Most Famous Accusations and Consequences

Sometimes, when you're working on your school projects, it can be easy to forget to cite your sources. But if you find out someone else has stolen your work and published it under their own name, it's not just an embarrassment for yourself; it's also an infringement of copyright law. What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the act of using someone else's work and passing it off as your own. The consequences of plagiarism can vary from just a slap on the wrist to being fired, but there are other things that can come to mind when you think about plagiarism: cheating, stealing, and fraud. In this article, we'll be discussing cases of plagiarism in advertising.Why is plagiarism harmful?Plagiarism is a very common issue in advertising because it's so easy for someone to copy and paste information from one website or blog into a new website or blog. There have been many instances of plagiarism in advertising in the past, but not all cases were severe. Some companies caught plagiarism early on, while others didn't, depending on the situation and who was involved.A lot of people use the term plagiarism when they talk about someone stealing someone else's work, but in marketing, this is not actually a crime. When we talk about plagiarism in advertising, we're referring to when marketers intentionally pass off someone else's work as their own. How plagiarism works in advertising In this article, we'll learn about the five most famous and scandalous cases of plagiarism in advertising. But before that, let’s understand how plagiarism works in advertising.Although plagiarism has become a big issue in the entrepreneurial world, it can often be difficult to detect since there are unique ways to work around it. As explained above, plagiarism happens whenever someone steals ideas from someone else without giving them credit.If you are wondering what type of advertising is plagiarized and how it can happen, then read on! Plagiarism, the act of stealing or taking credit for the ideas, words, or work of someone else without giving them proper due credit and/or crediting their work to its original source, is a form of fraud and can take many forms. These forms include textual plagiarism, audio/visual plagiarism, and even behavioral plagiarism, especially in marketing. Four Scandalous Cases of Plagiarism Caught in AdvertisingThe advertising industry is a very competitive place. Everyone is fighting to get their ads seen by the most people. This means that there are many cases in which advertisers feel as if they are being pushed to the limits of what they can do to make a campaign look fresh, new and relevant. Advertising can be a very competitive business. This is why to stand out from the crowd, many companies will plagiarize or steal another company's work and claim it as their own. There have been many famous cases of advertising plagiarism along the years. We summarized the most relevant ones.

Nike vs Rebook: Battle of the footwear brands. Nike admitted to copying Reebok in designing their Air Jordan shoes.

Coke vs Pepsi. Coca Cola stole Pepsi's successful formula for Diet Pepsi.

The Volkswagen Scandal. The ad called 3.    Eyes on the Road was supposedly ‘stolen’ by Volkswagen. The original producer of the commercial was, in fact, Karen Corrigan.

McDonald’s admits to plagiarism. The giant company copied an ad campaign for their projects from Kristina Bakrevsi, an original, creative photographer, without giving her any credit for it.

How to avoid plagiarism as a studentWhether you’re writing an essay, research project, or article, you want your work to be original. So, make sure you fully cite sources for any links that might be relevant and add detailed information about what they contain. Things like images, text, or information should not be posted without giving credit to the author. If you need help with that, use a free plagiarism checker online to verify your work. Universities have a strict no plagiarism, academic honesty rule, so be sure to respect it. Use plagiarism check with percentage by appealing to editing paper specialists. Better safe than sorry!Wrapping UpThe advertising world is, unfortunately, not too original and creative. It's no secret that plagiarism has been plaguing the business for years. However, it is important to remember that these companies are not always run by bad people who plagiarize. In the end, people engaging in such activities are those who have an excess of greed, entitlement and insecurity behind them. Just make sure you stay away from this drama – and you’ll be fine! And don’t forget, plagiarizing is considered a big violation in the academic world and if proven to be plagiarized, a person or author could be banned from publishing ever again. Stay away from it, I’m sure your research is worth sharing. Author Bio:Joshua Robinson is a marketer and plagiarism specialist in advertising. He works with companies all over the glove, providing constructive feedback for their marketing campaigns. In his free time, Joshua likes to watch Friends.-