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Artist has a beef with new meat campaign When we saw the beef industry’s new “Powerful Beefscapes” ads (left), they rang a bell. Then we remembered Nicolas Lampert’s “Meatscapes” (right), which we wrote about last May. The similarities are striking, with giant cuts of beef dominating meaty landscapes in both efforts. In our earlier piece, we even suggested (jokingly) that the beef council build a campaign around Lampert’s work. If that’s what happened, he wasn’t told about it. “I had not seen these ads until you brought them to my attention,” Lampert tells us in an e-mail, adding that, in his opinion, the ad work “borders very closely on plagiarism.” With Meatscapes, Lampert is commenting on the impact the meat industry has on the environment. Thus, he finds it odd that beef producers would embrace similar imagery. “What surprises me is why they would want to detail close-up shots of meat, as it has the potential to revolt the viewer,” he says. Read more about the campaign here. —Posted by Tim Nudd

January 14, 2008 in Nudd | Permalink

Comments

... Um, revolt? It's morning, and all I can think about now is eating a big slab of beef for lunch. Mmmm, beef ...

Posted by: Duane | Jan 14, 2008 10:00:12 AM

Didn't know about the plagerism possiblity relating to the artist, but

1) this campaign makes meat look disgusting.

2) this sort of thing with product as landscape has been done to death. somebody--McKinney, I believe--did it with towels or sheets a few years back. And it was far better than this.

Posted by: pete shotton | Jan 14, 2008 10:31:58 AM

I have no problem with advertising being heavily inspired by art or film, etc. (think Honda's "Cog," for instance).

But IMO, the agency should at least have the original artist do the shoot. If they decline for "moral" reasons, so be it.

Posted by: Bob | Jan 14, 2008 10:36:42 AM

I don't think it makes meat look disgusting, unless you're a vegetarian. The meat there looks quite tasty to me.

Posted by: Bobby | Jan 14, 2008 1:44:03 PM

Oh, come-on. Maying food look resemble things from nature has been done countless time's in the last 8 years. Lampert’s work is far from being original, so if he wants to play the plagiarism card, he should start with his own work.

Posted by: jonathan | Jan 14, 2008 2:18:44 PM

This idea makes a way better art piece than it does an ad. The ad makes me want to vomit. (I am not a vegetarian.)

Posted by: Schrodinger's Copywriter | Jan 15, 2008 10:05:07 AM

Stealing ideas and not paying the Illustrator - what else is new? The artist should sue!

Posted by: E.G. | Jan 17, 2008 1:27:32 PM

Hey I know. Maybe the blogger should sue E.G. whose comment basically plagiarizes the blogger's post.

Posted by: hater | Jan 18, 2008 10:54:58 AM

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