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TFL - Count the passes - (2008) :30 (UK)

Submitted by Dabitch on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 23:43.
in

From director Chris Palmer at Gorgeous and Ad agency WCRS, London comes this old idea.

And by old, I mean yes I've seen it before - you knew I was going to say that didn't you?
Well tough titties, I did back in 1999 when Daniel J. Simons used the same exact trick in his visual cognition lab. Still, it's a very good trick isn't it? Not sure I can be bothered to Badland this, what say you?


Ad Agency: WCRS, London.

Leon Juame (Executive Creative Director)
Yan elliott / Luke Williamson (Creative Director)
Kit Dayaram / Vince Chasteauneuf (Art Director)
Tom Spicer / Simon Aldridge (Copywriter)
James Lethem (Agency Producer)
Laura Crowther (Assistant Producer)
Director: Chris Palmer
Paul Watts (Editor)
Prod. Co.:Gorgeous

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alex's picture
Submitted by alex on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 10:46.

Blimey! Are they by any chance related?

Dabitch's picture
Submitted by Dabitch on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 11:43.

I dunno, it's a bit like Badlanding that old image which is a vase and/or two faces isn't it? Though in the case of Daniel J's work, I was very aware that these tests (filmed like that) are his copyright, and have never seen them before he filmed them. Unlike that vase/face thing where I have no idea who did that first, it's probably as old as the sun. More of his neat demos here btw. The difference is really that one has a man in a gorilla suit, and one has a dude in a bear/bunny suit.

blabla's picture
Submitted by blabla on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 14:51.

It's a great idea either way but I think to make the cyclist connection they could at the very least stick a bike-helmet on that bears head. Is Daniel J. Simons getting any compensation for this?

Dabitch's picture
Submitted by Dabitch on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 16:30.

Brandrepublic says that he's suing:

The ad, Do the Test, was produced by the agency for Transport for London to highlight how easy it is for drivers to miss the presence of cyclists on the road.

But earlier today, the clip was removed from YouTube "due to a copyright claim from a third party".
However, a video which is virtually identical was copyrighted by US professor Daniel J Simons in 1999.

Simons, who works at the University of Illinois Visual Cognition Lab, produced the video to demonstrate a spatial awareness theory.

A user who saw the clip on Campaign's website contacted us and said: "The ad is absolutely identical except they have turned a gorilla into a bear."

This is just wild guessing, really, since anyone can get a film removed from youtube if it wasn't posted by the Transport for London* peeps and/or agency/production house themselves.

* who obviously own the copyright of their own film and might not want it on youtube

Goodbye's picture
Submitted by Goodbye on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 16:32.

But - the only thing I saw was the moonwalking bear...

Dabitch's picture
Submitted by Dabitch on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 16:38.

I should've checked todays: WCRS defends video against copyright accusation

He said: "We are facing criticism relating to copyright on the cycling safety TV ad.

"We have been assured that this execution does not infringe copyright. We feel it is a powerful message and is one that will have an impact on this very serious issue".

It is understood that the academic who produced the video, professor Daniel J Simons, is unhappy about not being contacted by TfL or the agency before their ad was released.

However, he is not contemplating legal action over the clip.

Allan1's picture
Submitted by Allan1 on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 17:39.

A few years ago, Dateline (NBC) ran what I believe is Prof. Simons' video on a segment on a "How good a witness are you?" show. My wife & I watched it, and I asked her if she saw the guy in the gorilla suit. *** She said - "What guy in a gorilla suit?". Then they played it back again, in slow motion, so that you could see it, and told you to look for the gorilla. [I'm prettty sure they credited the professor]. I just have one of those weird memories and scanning abilities - I seem to want to see everything happening at once. (I've seen vids of myself from the back, at a lecture, and I keep moving my head around to look at everything and everybody in the room, and reacting to every noise. I probably would have be a great scout or tracker back on the Serengeti - 50,000 years ago). :-)

*** First time I saw the segment.

There were other similar segments, one where a man ran into a classroom and stole something from the professor's table in the front of the room, and ran out. [IIRC, he was brandishing a weapon]. Of the 30+ students/witnesses, most of them got the following wrong: his clothing (types of clothes, patterns, colors, etc.); whether he was wearing a hat or not; whether he was wearing glasses; what color his hair was; and even what race he was. (I got 87% right - I had some problems with clothing specifics - colors, whether he was wearing jeans or something else). There were almost no reliable witnesses.

Allan...