Who else is counting? New Zealand’s TV3 tagline is cannily similar to long-running SBS tagline

| | 5 Comments

Screen shot 2010-05-15 at 5.40.36 AM.pngThe tagline at the end of a promo for New Zealand’s TV3 News is cannily similar to the long-running SBS tagline: “Six Billion Stories and counting”. The tagline in the TV3 News promo, which shows reporters and cameramen from the New Zealand broadcaster at the forefront of major global events, is “Over six billion stories” and then on the next screen “and counting.”

VIEW THE TV3 NEWS PROMO:

Josh Moore, ECD of US Sydney, the agency that has been creatingSBS promos for the past three years with the tagline, said: “It’s a bitof an odd thing to do on their part. Flattering but odd.” 

SBS’sdirector of marketing, Jacquie Riddell says that while imitation is theoldest form of flattery, she has sought legal advice on the use of thetagline.

“On the one hand we should be pleasedthat someone thought our idea was so great that they’ve taken it,however obviously creating a brand is much more than a line, isn’t it?It’s the culture of the organization, the people, etc, that theyhaven’t got a hope of replicating what we’ve done with bringing ‘SixBillion Stories and Counting’ to air,” she says.