At first glance, there’s not a lot to hate about an ad depicting John Stamos getting headbutted in the face. But, aside from rapper M.I.A. taking a moment to give America the finger during the halftime show, Dannon Oikos’ debut Super Bowl spot was the most controversial part of the Super Bowl XLVI broadcast, and it has nothing to do with making light of domestic violence.
Instead of Dannon calling on longtime AOR Y&R for the ad (Y&R only played a “consultative role”), “The Tease,” was actually crowdsourced into development. Fun trivia: At 21 years old, the ad’s director, Remy Neymarc, could be the youngest Super Bowl ad director in history. However, as one tipster suggests, Dannon’s frugal crowdsourcing methods may be costing the brand more money in the long-run.
First, consider the track playing in the background. Some on social media are saying that the song sounds an awful lot like the John Butler Trio’s “Zebra.” A look at the JBT’s Twitter page shows that the band is in agreement, and probably isn’t too happy about the “coincidence.” Compare below.
Second, the spot looks pretty similar to a 2001 Canadian 7-Up spot. We ask you, dear readers, was Dannon guilty of a concept and a song ripoff during the Super Bowl? If so, will this affect later viewings of Full House reruns?