Renowned car manufacturer – Audi released an advertisement on 21st May in conjunction with the celebration of the traditional Chinese 24 solar term, Xiaoman (grain buds). The video entitled “人生小满” has actor Andy Lau (刘德华) reciting a poem that depicted the meaning of ‘Small Full’ in the lives of many.
Soon after the release however, the advert was accused of plagiarising a poem that was written by the original author back in 2018. Audi China had put out a statement on 22nd May stating that all of their official platforms had removed the advertisement video and would be conducting an investigation on the copyright infringement.
The advert apparently plagiarised the work of a blogger. The original poet, a Douyin user that goes by the name of “Peking University Man Ge” (北大满哥), accused Andy of plagiarising his work. He recently shared a video clarifying his side of the story.
The poet explained that the original poem was first released on Douyin during the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2018. In the video he had posted, he compared both his and Audi’s advert by showing that the two videos used the same wording.
Although the Douyin user is accusing the actor and the company of plagiarism, he further clarified that he does not intend to slander both Audi and Andy. He only wished to get a thorough explanation of the situation and move on from it. The video had already been taken down and Audi China had released an apology statement to Andy whilst awaiting an investigation.
Source: Tantan, Oriental daily
