Hell Pizza's carbon copied ad campaign is just like New York Pizza's commercials

This is a funny badlander, that somehow escaped our attention when it first happened, this should have appeared under dupliclaims already two years go. We are slacking, our bad.

Back in 2008 Selmore in Amsterdam created a campaign for New York Pizza, playing up mobster stereotypes with a twist, saying these Italian-americans really cared about their Pizza, and thus the New York Pizza was a damn good one. Acting all "Scarface" in front of a pile of white powder, New York Pizza guy is very very upset about the quality of the goods.

New York Pizza - Office / Damn Tasty

Then in 2010, Hell Pizza in New Zealand do the exact same skit. No, I mean exactly. Watch.

Hell Pizza - Mafia Flour - 2010

You'd think that was damning enough, but as Adformatie in Holland shows us, there's one more. In that article, Ad agency Selmore are shocked at the blatant plagiarism, Jakko Achterberg from the agency says it also proved one can't get away with these things anymore when everything is on the internet. Meanwhile the client Danny Bouman, head of marketing at New York Pizza, also said it saw no point in taking legal action. "We do not want long drawn out procedures, which are also beyond national borders." So congrats Hell Pizza, you're safe. Legally, anyway.

In this little mafia-scene, the argument is about he quality of the blood ..err.. I mean sauce.

New York Pizza - Sauce

The New Zealand copy is spot on like it, except with lesser acting chops.

Hell Pizza Mafia Sauce

In creative execution, Selmore beat Barnes, Catmur & Friends***, in my humble opinion. Your milage may vary.

*** Update Campaignbrief, as has been pointed out here in the comments, made a post a day after us on this matter which reads:

The Hell Pizza spots were created by Cinderella Marketing, Auckland - owned by Matthew Blomfield, who at the time also owned five Hell Pizza stores - and posted on YouTube in June 2010.

Thus, it's Cinderella Marketing that didn't manage to find an über-mafia-like Italian actor in their version. THE MORE YOU KNOW, mates.

**** UPDATE #2 August 2013 Someone in the comments says that Cinderella Marketing had nothing to do with it either. Everyone up to date now? Cool.
Nobody made the carbon copy ads. They just appeared.

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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Daniel Barnes's picture

Uh, guys, the Adformatie story is incorrect. We at Barnes Catmur & Friends had nothing to do with this, which was the work of a prior and now defunct agency Cinderella. Correct story here:
http://www.campaignbrief.co.nz/2012/08/dutch-agency-selmore-amsterdam.html

Please remove the link to our site. Thanks.

Dabitch's picture

I removed the link, and more importantly, corrected the article so that it's clear you didn't make the mafia-copy work. Some people don't read comments.

Adam C's picture

The companies office shows Cinderella stopped trading in July 2008. The idea was Warren Powell and the production company was.....

Dabitch's picture

...who? WHO?

AnonymousCoward's picture

Augusto Auckland.

AnonymousCoward's picture

Can you please remove my name from this post..please it wasnt me of Cinderella.