India and Pakistan at loggerheads over BBlunt plagiarism row

Call it a blunt copy and paste. During a commercial break during the telecast of the Pakistan Super League (the country's version of India's IPL), there were some who felt that something was amiss.

The reason for discomfort was a 40-seconder ad film featured Indian actor Kareena Kapoor endorsing a hair colour brand Olivia Intense by Pakistan's Maskatiya Industries. For those who knew their advertising, there was a huge problem with the ad film.

The ad was a frame-to-frame copy of BBlunt Salon Secret that was released in August 2016. BBlunt is a brand owned by the Mumbai-based Godrej Group. Watch the BBlunt film here:

The only change in the entire commercial of Olivia was the product pack in the hands of the brand ambassador and the product and pack shots towards the end of the commercial. 

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Despite Campaign's repeated attempts to contact Maskatiya, the company did not respond. In its website, the company mentions that its Olivia brand has in the past been endorsed by Bollywood actors like Bipasha Basu, Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao Hydari and Shruti Haasan. There is no mention of Kareena Kapoor though.  

Campaign also reached out to the Godrej Group for comment. Sunil Kataria, business head, India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products said, “We wish to clarify that GCPL has no business relationship with Maskatiya Industries Private Limited (Olivia cosmetics). It has been brought to our notice recently that Maskatiya Industries have copied the 'BBlunt Salon secret High Shine Crème hair colour' TVC. This seems to be a direct case of plagiarism and Godrej Consumer Products Limited condemn this act which infringes our copyrights over the said TVC. We shall be taking appropriate action against the same.”

The company is believed to have served a legal notice on Maskatiya. Meanwhile, the Godrej Group has ensured that Olivia Intense commercials are removed from social media like Facebook and YouTube where the commercial garnered more than a million views.