Dentsu Utama resigns from the Malaysian 4As in response to Kancil Awards plagiarism accusation

Dentsu Utama and its representatives have resigned from the Malaysian 4As with immediate effect after being informed that eight of the Kancil awards related to the WWF Anti-Poaching Cross River Gorilla, and the Web Privacy Watch – Professional Man campaigns won in December 2015, will be revoked – a decision which the agency believe is unsupported.

As reported by CB Asia earlier, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) unanimously decided their winning works were deemed sufficiently close to works created in the United Kingdom and Sweden.

The statement from the agency: On 29 December Dentsu Utama was accused of plagiarism, a claim it strongly disputes. Responding to these accusations, Dentsu Utama began an internal investigation into this allegation, supported by independent legal advice. The conclusion was that such accusations are unfounded.

Throughout this period Dentsu Utama has been openly cooperating with the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) on this issue. Dentsu Utama, without being given the opportunity to defend itself, has now been informed that eight of the Kancil awards related to the WWF Anti-Poaching Cross River Gorilla, and the Web Privacy Watch – Professional Man campaigns won in December 2015, will be revoked. A decision which we believe is unsupported.

As a result, Dentsu Utama and its representatives will resign from the 4As with immediate effect.

Dentsu Utama will continue its dialogue with the individual artists on this issue and continue to support its opinion that the allegations are unfounded.