# Plagiarism Ad Campaigns HSBC and The Economist Both Favor the Same Electrical Outlets By Marissa Liu | Published 2009-10-21 | Marketing Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/advertisements-featuring-electrical-outlets References: [adhunt.blogspot](http://adhunt.blogspot.com/2009/10/economist-plugs.html) & [us.hsbc](http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/business/other/commercial-banking?SCMCLP=CSM0001322_Default&x=&code=CSM0001322&WT.ac=HBUS_CSM0001322) Advertisements featuring electrical outlets sure are popular. While reading The Economist the other night, I happened to notice a red and white ad belonging to [HSBC](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hsbc-2). It featured dual-toned figures of different international outlets and underneath it stated which country each outlet “worked” in. At the end was the HSBC hexagon and underneath read the caption “Works Worldwide.” The new Economist ad has the tag line, “Get a world view. Read The Economist.” The campaign was created by [BBDO](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/accessible-customer-service) ad agency in New York and was written by Pierre Lipton. Aside from the missing “works in…” captions the ad is a duplicate of the one I saw in The Economist for HSBC. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 5.4/10 - Popularity: 65% | Activity: 89% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Marketing](https://www.trendhunter.com/marketing) > [Branding](https://www.trendhunter.com/branding) ## Key Themes ### Key Themes Behind This Trend - **Plagiarized Ad Campaigns:** Identifying and addressing instances of plagiarism in advertising campaigns can help maintain brand integrity and avoid legal repercussions. - **Global Marketing Campaigns:** Developing marketing campaigns that resonate across different countries can help businesses expand their international reach and engage with diverse audiences. - **Ethics in Advertising:** The rise of plagiarism in advertising highlights the need for stronger ethical guidelines and practices to ensure originality and transparency in marketing campaigns. ### Where This Applies - **Advertising:** The advertising industry must implement measures to prevent plagiarism and protect the creative integrity of campaigns. - **Banking:** Financial institutions like HSBC need to ensure that their marketing efforts are original and distinguishable from competitors to maintain brand credibility. - **Publishing:** Publishers like The Economist should address instances of plagiarism in advertising campaigns to uphold their reputation as a reliable source of information. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Household Expense Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/what-ai-can-save.md) - [Reimagined Story-Driven Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/typewriter-campaign.md) - [Energy-Saving Beer Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ad-that-saves-energy.md) - [Retail Advertising Campaigns](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ikea-hides-price.md) - [Architecture-Inspired QSR Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/new-mcdonalds-campaign.md) - [Color Blindness-Exclusive Billboards](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/accessibility-adapter.md) - [Artful Illusory Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/illusion-artwork.md) - [AI-Crafted Banking Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ai-ads-by-bank.md) - [Hyper-Local Gym Ads](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/made-for-london-life.md)