Dongfeng Honda’s agency Automobile apologised for infringement accusations

Hot on the heels of the Audi China and M&C Saatchi ad plagiarism controversy, it seems like Wuhan-based automobile manufacturing company Dongfeng Honda’s advertising agency Automobile has now come under fire for "stealing someone's experiences" in a video campaign.

The incident aroused heated discussion on Chinese social media and just yesterday, the agency behind the video issued a statement of apology for failing to notifying Ning Yuan, the owner of Mingyue Yuanjia where the video was shot, about the commercial purpose of the shoot and the video content published. The statement also recognised that the filmed content was similar to Ning’s experience which caused emotional harm and negative impact on Ning and her team.

However, the agency denied the content of the video being stolen or being an infringement, and stood by it being an original piece of work, despite being similar to someone else's experience, said media reports. Automobile also confirmed that the related content has since been taken down and it promised to abide by the standardised process and conduct content review more seriously in the future.

The video ad in question featured a woman claiming that she was attracted by beautiful natural sceneries to live in the Mingyue village in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, and decided to start a dyeing studio as her own business. The campaign was shot in Mingyue Yuanjia and a dyeing house in the Mingyue village.

At the beginning of the video ad, a woman says she is attracted by the beautiful natural view to live in the Mingyue village in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, and decides to set up a dyeing studio as her startup business. The video was shot in Mingyue Yuanjia, a multifunctional space that combines restaurant, cafe, accommodations, bookstore and a dyeing house in the Mingyue village.

On 22 May 2022, Ning complained on her Weibo account that the video had completely “stolen her experience” in Mingyue village and used the space as a commercial shooting site for Honda advertisement without her consent. "I feel like my life was stolen from me," Ning said, explaining further that the ad has used the space of her startup, and the script of the actress was mostly taken from her book and social media posts.

Ning said she is now looking for lawyers to prepare for a lawsuit and hopes Honda and Automobile can deliver a reasonable explanation.

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