Burger King Accused Of Stealing Creative Ad Idea From ‘Billy On The Street’
Note to Burger King; having it your way does not mean stealing it from someone else.
Mashable is reporting that comedian, Billy Eichner, a contributor to the Funny Or Die website, noticed that Burger King had a “Man on the Street” ad for their new chicken nuggets. The actor was a bit manic, a little loud, kind of like Eichner in his “Billy on the Street” segments for Funny Or Die.
In the Burger King ad, the actor—who sorta looks like Billy if you don’t put your glasses on—is shown holding a microphone and a box of nuggets. He asks two teenagers on the street, “How much do you think these chicken nuggets are?” After they guess “five dollars,” he says the real price and squawks. They squawk back at him. Cue nugget close-ups and price and availability information.
Upon seeing the ad Sunday night, Eichner called Burger King out on his Twitter account.
“Hey @BurgerKing-thanks for stealing my act for ur new commercial!! Except its not as funny & everyone knows u stole it. GET YOUR OWN IDEAS.”
He followed with “Oh and @BurgerKing once you’re done stealing my comedy please stop making people morbidly obese! Thanks so much.”
“Yo BurgerKing, stop stealing from the hilarious @billyeichner and stick to what you’re good at: giving me diarrhea.” tweeted Seth Rogen.
A few of Eichner’s comedian friends, such as Michael Ian Black and Judd Apatow, agreed and went to Twitter, as well.
According to the A.V. Club, though there seems to be some similarities between the skit and the ad, Burger King seems prepared to go into a courtroom and defend its decision. Burger King is claiming the ad is an ordinary ‘Man on the Street” commercial, and Eichner certainly did not create that.
Still, Eichner is calling on his fans from his skits and from his appearances on Parks And Recreation to take to Twitter to get Burger King to acknowledge their “misdeeds” in some public way. Even McDonald’s went to Twitter, inviting Eichner to their restaurant. As of yet, Burger King has yet to respond.
Today gives us an example that was considered a crime. In 1988, after Bette Midler refused to sing for Ford in one of their commercials, the car maker’s ad agency hired a sound-a-like singer to impersonate Midler. She sued and a Court of Appeals decision made it illegal to imitate a widely-known singer’s voice to sell a product without express consent.
[Image courtesy of the A.V. Club]
