That war we won in the pacific…
One of the more interesting benefits of working in the media business is the great joy of reading through in(s)ane press releases everyday. If you thought that what you saw on TV or read in your paper was ludicrous, then you have no idea how lucky you are.
For every morning our inboxes are flooded with press releases that range from the completely stupid to the astronomically nincompoopish.
But I am not going to harp all over that because I was in the receipt of a rather interesting notice in the email last evening which I must share with you. It was crafted by the wonderful people at IBN7 and was an e-flyer for one of their Independence day hoopla television programmes.
This is the image after much cutting and pasting and resizing:
Of course I don’t have a problem with the spirit of the idea. Independence Day is a great time that we should all celebrate and why should TV channels be any different. And if there is a profit motive then thats even better.
The main text of the mailer is as follows:
“On this occasion of Independence Day, IBN7 brings you an array of programmes showcasing India’s journey through glorious 60 years. Relive the moments that have made us strong, proud and humble.”
No issues with any of those things. I had just read though the mailer and was all set it to consign it to by Trash when I noticed the interesting graphic in the bottom right hand corner. Look closely.
Hay! Wait a goddamn minute there!
Haven’t I seen that somewhere before?
And so I had!
Now the Google Image Search went wrong for IBN7 in two ways.
First of all the IBN7 graphic is ripped off the US Marine Corps War Memorial located in Virginia. It is one of the few places where the Stars and Stipes is permitted to be flown 24 hours a day.
And that’s not all. The Memorial itself is based on an immensely famous photo taken on Mount Suribachi during the Battle for Iwo Jima during WW2. (Fantastic battle. Uncle Eastwood made two outstanding movies about it. Made money and won awards.)
And the icing on the cake is the missing chakra on the Indian flag.
Sure lets relive the moments that made us strong, proud and humble. By all means.
But ripping off someone else’s crowning war moment is a bit much.
No?
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Thats great and very interesting post. loved it sid…
What all will be done for a profit motive. Sigh!
That’s called a real expose. It has all the elements of one actually. There’s the camera(never mind someone else is holding it for you!), then there is the tv angle(so important for a real expose in today’s world!) and then there is this journo called Sidin who dug up the story!!!
Yes. Coming to think of it I am pretty sure I could have taken it to India TV at the very least.
The movie “Flag of Our Fathers” has the scene very well portrayed(good job uncle Eastwood)…imagine the desi version of the same movie(similar scene)….Bapu k Zhanda…lol
good blog..
surely ripping is bit 3 much sid
nice observation….and well said
yes.
Awesome job on the googling & investigating Sidin. Plagiarism IS our middle name,ain’t it?
Man,you spoiled someone’s I day :p.Just done with watching Independence Day on Star Movies and the memorial was in there too !
Ofcourse yes!
Well, at least they could’ve ripped it off decently… what kind of school did that kid at IBN go to? chee!
Exactly. I mean reverse engineering is one of our national specialties no?
Aw come on Sidin not fair….they were just inspired thats all… thoda adjust kariye
Whatay shame!!
High levels of Journalistic standards being displayed by IBN folks….Nice catch Sidin
Hoots of lafftar…
Kudos for sharing that rip-off sidin
the po’ ol’ lazy grapghic designer at IBN
-mataal
That was so ultimately stupid of CNN-IBN.
Well spotted
Indeed a great celebration of independence, we are now under the rule of America.
Long live Indian chutzpah, I say. We wouldnt have had veg hamburger if it werent for it.
In Chennai there is a statue called Labor Statue which has a “similar” setup…
http://www.pbase.com/oochappan/image/44137219
nice catch of the plagiaristic act. creativity is strongly associated with Media folks. Alas, a national Tv channel shows a dark example.
Well, what else can you expect from the team of IBN? Shamelessly copied.
nice one ya…good observation
Sidin,
I guess IBN7 is not to blame. Apparently there really is a sculpture in Kashmir modelled on the Iwo Jima one.
(Read about it at http://dcubed.blogspot.com/2004/12/moments-of-epiphany.html)
astronomically nincompoopish.
That will be my phrase for the day.
* repeats the phrase in a loop *
Cmon dude,
You expect pee-sized brains in the media to come up with something original to celebrate the Indian Independence Day?
Why should they? They have more profitable things to do like covering a celebrity marriage, conducting an opinion poll to confirm whether 60 years of Independence constitute more than half a decade or not, etc. Morons!
pea-sized*, beg your pardon!
well interesting find but as someone said, I am bored of plagarism reports.
(have a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/freemind/1132505735/ )