Kellogg India refutes plagiarism allegations in its ad campaign

Kellogg India has refuted plagiarism allegations claimed by food platform EatFit in its latest advertisement campaign released two weeks ago.

According to Kellogg India, its ad tagline Kuch Kar Dikhane Ki Bhookh (English version – Hungry to achieve something) is a “commonly used term and lacks exclusivity to any campaign. It can’t be called proprietary material, unless the same is protected under the Indian legal context.”

Hence, it “categorically and unequivocally” denied all the allegations of “plagiarism/copying/reuse of the tagline in reference to our ongoing multi-media campaign.”

Additionally, it states that the company along with its creative partner, Ogilvy India, conducted their due diligence before publishing this advertisement.

Ogilvy’s chief strategy officer Prem Narayan also supported the company by stating that the ad script was finished last August, and it then went to a “third-party research agency, whose report came in September” and hence “there can’t be any question of either Ogilvy or the brand copying the ad.”

Also, the concept and context of both the ads in question are different, as per Narayan.

Curefoods’ food platform EatFit has accused Kellogg of plagiarizing the concept as well as the tagline of its advertisement campaign ‘Kuch Kar Dikhane Ki Bhook’ (English version – Hungry to achieve something).

EatFit launched its campaign during the ICC Men's International T20 World Cup last year, in addition to airing on the television show "Shark Tank" in India.

Curefoods’ founder Ankit Nagori and his team said that they tried to contact the company to ask them to remove the advertisement, but they got no response.

He is now planning to take legal action against the company as he believes it is “unethical and takes away the value of art, hard work, and creativity that goes into creating the original idea.”

Both brands will soon make their respective cases to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which is currently handling the matter.

PitchMark covered how 7-Eleven Singapore was accused of copying images for its Hawker Fiesta 2022 campaign from creative studio 8EyedSpud. When the agency contacted the convenience store chain to notify them about the matter, it was subsequently put in touch with their creative agency. It was later revealed that the illustration was created by an outside illustrator that the creative agency had hired.