The world of South African fast food advertising is pretty cutthroat. I’m team Chicken Licken, but that Neymar KFC advert was a pretty big home run.

There’s plenty going on behind the scenes that we don’t usually catch wind of, and in the latest round of McDonald’s versus Wimpy, it’s a very spicy affair.

Basically, McDonald’s accused Wimpy, and their advertising agency The Odd Number, of plagiarism. Mark Lives reports:

…”McDonald’s have alleged that certain of our staff members used confidential information and transgressed copyright in relation to a Wimpy advert,” reads a statement by Xola Nouse, co-founder and MD at The Odd Number.

“This is the subject of a dispute. The allegations are unfortunate. We are engaged in ongoing discussions with Wimpy and McDonalds to resolve the matter.”

Nouse declined any further comment.

In response to the accusations, Wimpy South Africa terminated its relationship with The Odd Number, although they wouldn’t go into the details of why, citing legal processes.

“The Odd Number is an excellent agency and we have been impressed with their work and method of engagement,” says Jacques Cronje, Wimpy marketing executive, in an apparent attempt to soften the blow dismissing an agency only several months into its contract. “On behalf of everyone at Wimpy, I’d like to wish the team at The Odd Number all the best for the future. I have no doubt they will continue to produce compelling work for their clients.”

According to Business Insider, the allegations of plagiarism are related to ‘The National Breakfast’, which aired around the country back in July.

Business Insider’s digging around revealed a few interesting points:

Three employees previously worked on a McDonald’s ad campaign at OwenKessel Leo Burnett (OKLB),  which is McDonald’s lead advertising agency, Business Insider SA has learned. They reportedly moved over to The Odd Number earlier this year, and apparently proceeded to present a similar campaign to Wimpy.

According to her LinkedIn profile, one of the copywriters on the team worked for OKLB for four years. In her profile, she says that she “was part of the team responsible for the significant turnaround (in South Africa) of both Amstel Lager and McDonald’s.”

Once the Wimpy advert began airing, McDonald’s chose not to release their advert, and the allegations of plagiarism began to do the rounds.

A quick look at The Odd Number’s Twitter and Facebook accounts shows that they are remaining pretty mum on social media.

[sources:marklives&businsider]