McDonald’s Accused Of Copying Animator’s Work For Ad Featuring Dancing Cows

A year after McDonald’s apologized to a pair of photographers after modeling a Twitter ad campaign based on their work, the Golden Arches is once again being accused of copying someone else’s work. 

According to Business Insider, British animator Cyraik Harris claims that a new McDonald’s ad campaign airing in Latin America is suspiciously similar to a video he posted on YouTube back in 2010.

Harris Tweeted earlier today, pointing out the similarities between his work, “cows & cows & cows” and the McDonald’s ad, both of which feature cows dancing in a field.

After expressing his displeasure with the ad on Twitter, one of Cyraik’s followers noted that someone on a video forum claimed that he had worked on the ad for Juan Solo VFX Studio and took inspiration from the animator’s video.

In the exchange, one poster notes that the ad reminded him of Cyraik’s work.

In response, the ad employee wrote, “Actually Cyriak was the reference for this spot. The director and I wanted to go a bit more realistic but the client loved the ref.”

Neither McDonald’s and Juan Solo VFX Studio responded to Business Insider’s request for comment on the accusations.

This, of course, isn’t the first time McDonald’s has been accused of using someone else’s work for their ad spots. Last year, the company began a Twitter campaign that a pair of photographers claimed looked a bit too similar to their own photographs. 

The original pictorial series included the man longingly looking at a burrito on a park bench, seductively peering at the food from behind a tree and lounging next to each other on the grass.

McDonald’s apparently saw the popularity of the series and decided to make it its own by replacing the tinfoil wrapped burrito with its double cheeseburger meal. The resulting ads feature various people in similar poses to those of the viral photo series: a man lies back in the grass, a woman sitting on a park bench, a man peering around a tree.

The fast food giant later apologized for the issue and removed the photos from Twitter.

McDonald’s is being accused of copying a cult animator’s work in one of its ads [Business Insider]

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