Goodby Ripping Off. . . McClain Finlon?

troymcclure's picture
Posted by troymcclure on 27. April 2004 - 16:17

To be fair, I don't know who is ripping off who here. Of course, it's also possible that it could all be a coincidence - a freak occurance that defies the laws of man and nature, like Tunguska blast of 1908 or Paris Hilton's celebrity.

Anyhow Goodby, has done a print ad for Ace Hardware showing a tiny Ace salesman hanging on a tool rack. (The headline: "Good advice is the best tool.")

Then, if you visit the website of a good yet somewhat obscure Denver agency named McClain Finlon, you'll see an ad for Xcel Energy Repair Care showing. . . a tiny repairman hanging on a tool rack. (The headline: "Very handy appliance repair.")

It's shocking how alike the visuals are. Like I said, I don't which ad came first. All I do know is that I had bookmarked McClain's site a couple of years ago (why, I don't know) and that it doesn't seem to have changed much since then - whereas I think the Ace ad is a relatively recent addition to Goodby's canon.

If it Goodby did rip off McClain, it makes you wonder. I mean, first Mad Dogs and Englishmen, then McClain. Who's next? Joe's Advertising Shack?

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Submitted by claymore on 27. April 2004 - 20:48.
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You know, I think they should have gone with peg hooks instead of them clampy things - the expressions on the faces, the blood spatter, and the general writhing would have made for much more arresting visuals.

Submitted by Robblink on 27. April 2004 - 22:03.
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The blood and the gore may be visually arresting....but it also may evoke images from The Passion of Mel Gibson!

Submitted by kidsleepy on 28. April 2004 - 22:04.
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it may also be something that might quickly go into 'overused' category, too. i saw that a lot in ad school. and just last month i was working at work and someone brought that in as a marker comp. maybe it's not that fresh.

granted those layouts are more than eerily similar. so that does make you wonder.

my burning question is, does anyoone really have one of those things to hang tools in their garage?

Submitted by dabitch on 28. April 2004 - 22:57.
dabitch's picture

my Grandfather and my Dad did in their toolsheds at some point - so it might be the tired-track of thinking thing: "Hmm, tools... where do they go, in red toolboxes and on those peg things in the garage.. ah wait, I think I have an idea here!" - although, one always has to make something that "everyone understands" so everyone is thinking in the same patterns about red toolboxes and pegholders... and voila, a visual idea is born in two heads (or three) just like that. ;)

Submitted by deeped on 28. April 2004 - 23:01.
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Yes. But the tools seems to dislike it and gather at the table or on some shelf in small groups...

Submitted by toastco on 1. May 2004 - 5:56.
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"Shop at Ace, our salesmen are tools."

Submitted by sport on 5. January 2005 - 22:40.
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Cute Badlander - the comments here are priceless.

Submitted by appliance repair agoura (not verified) on 5. March 2013 - 13:09.
appliance repair agoura's picture

In workshop or any service center they keep their tools in a rack in a proper manner,when the tools required they take the tools easily.

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