Toronto’s York University sees copycat creative, but The Globe and Mail sees only great advertising in its new outdoor and print campaign.

The Globe’s ads show how different sections of the newspaper might interpret a common object. One billboard in downtown Toronto shows a chicken surrounded by three different headlines. The headline from the International News section reads “Bird flu not yet ready for prime time.” The Globe T.O. headline says “The best curry chicken in Toronto,” and the Globe Sports section reads “Why some hockey players refuse to fight.” Each headline is connected to the chicken with a dotted line.

Marketers at Toronto’s York University claim the concept is derived from their ongoing “Redefine the Possible” campaign, created in 2004 by Toronto creative shop Doug. That campaign shows how various academic disciplines interpret everyday objects.

One York ad, which also uses a chicken, runs with the text “A biologist sees a pandemic. A dietician sees an excellent source of protein. A philosopher sees what may have come before the egg.” Each line of text is connected to the image with a dotted line as well.

“I started getting calls from people around the university and from people I haven’t worked with for many years saying this looked very much like my campaign,” says Richard Fisher, chief marketing and communications officer for York University. “There it was as clear as day. To me it’s an identical strategy with identical art direction.”

York’s campaign includes 30 executions to date and has run in print, transit and online. “Redefine the Possible” ads also appeared in the Globe as recently as November.

“Whether it was intentional or not, they should have done a scan of their own advertisers at the very least to find out if there’s anything similar in the marketplace,” Fisher says. “We’re all in the business of building distinct brands and that can’t happen if people are going to use identical executions and strategies.”

Print ads for York also appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life magazine and The Walrus magazine, among others.

The Globe campaign was developed by Toronto’s Naked Creative. Peter Shier, president of Naked, deferred comment to The Globe and Mail.

Roger Dunbar, vice-president, digital media, business development and marketing at the Globe, says he was involved with the creative process throughout. While he admits he did not see the York ads until after the fact, he stands by Naked. “I’ve been supportive of the integrity of the process they went through,” Dunbar says. “I was there most of the way.”

Dunbar would not comment directly on York’s claims, saying he plans to meet with them to discuss the situation. Fisher confirmed that a meeting with Dunbar and Phillip Crawley, the paper’s publisher and CEO, is being arranged.

Mike Welling, president of Doug, says he’s already spoken with members of the newspaper’s marketing staff about ending the campaign on “ethical and intellectual property” grounds.

“Their first reaction was to say no,” but Welling added that the paper offered to take down the chicken ad in deference to York’s chicken ad. Welling says that is insufficient.

“It’s not just an executional issue,” he says. “It’s more about the entire construct, from an art direction and creative perspective.”

Media planning and buying for both York and the Globe is handled by Gaggi Media. Representatives from Gaggi could not be reached for comment.