Inspiration or Theft?

Perhaps you've seen Ogilvy & Mather, Indonesia's latest ambient work for UPS (Exhibit A).

What you may not have seen is artist, Ryan Johnson's piece, "Pedestrian" from 2007 (Exhibit B).

For us, the question here is not whether this was a coincidence or a ripoff. This is obviously a ripoff. Our question to you is, does advertising borrow or steal? Is it inspiration or a crime? Did advertising ruin something original?

For now, for us, this is bullshit. It just looks like a lazy creative turning art into advertising. Literally. Perhaps if credit was given to the creator, it would be less sleazy. Was the artist involved in the execution? Who knows, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Lame ass, weak sauce.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Via