The super bowl is one of the biggest, if not the biggest night in advertising. Companies pay big money and put in large amount of time and effort trying to develop the best commercial of the night. They all hope that the next day consumers all across the country will be talking about their commercial. There are those who succeed in making interesting and fun commercials and others who are known for controversial issues which they might bring up. According to AgencySpy the company which took home most controversial commercial of the year was Dannon. 
At first glance the ad seems quite innocent and you may be wondering what is wrong with it, but dig in deeper and there are clear problems. After the super bowl social media sites were buzzing with news that the background music sounded a lot like the song “Zebra” by John Butler Trio’s. Sure I didn’t notice at first either but take a look at this.
It’s enough to listen to the song for the first 5 seconds to see the distinct resemblance. Personally, I believe if Dannon where to actually have used this bands song as their background music they should have asked permission to do it. Although, to the average consumer this may not seem like a big deal, the next problem with the ad is definitely more serious.
This 7-Up commercial from Canada was created in 2001. It seems as though Dannon just reused the basis from a campaign that already existed. I am unclear about regulations regarding this act, but to me it is not only ethically wrong for the company to behave in this way, but also somewhat demeaning to their stature as a strong international company. Dannon should be able to come up with an original commercial and not resort to ideas that have already been used. The message this sends to consumers is that Dannon cannot compete creatively, which in turn may make some consumers see them as weak. Large companies should be capable of producing commercials which are both original and ethically correct. Personally, I do not see any excuse as to why Dannon put up this commercial.