After Ice Cream Company Stole This Artist’s Work, He Came Up With An Idea They Didn’t Expect
In a time when original ideas are hard to come by, it’s no wonder that things get copied and stolen, especially on the internet. However, an ice cream company ColdStone crossed the line when they plagiarised art for their Indian branch.
Last week, Adam Ellis, former BuzzFeed employee and artist, shared his story on Twitter, where it quickly gained attention. He pointed out that Coldstone traced and stole some of his work for their Instagram page and urged the company to donate to Inner City Arts, a creative space in Los Angeles, where children can explore their creativity. People quickly expressed their feelings on such plagiarism and unsurprisingly, they weren’t too happy.
The company has responded and just a week later, Adam Ellis posted an update on the entire situation that offered a glimmer of hope for all artists. Read the story below to see how it unfolded and tell us if you think Ellis did the right thing.
More info: Twitter
Remember Adam Ellis who quit Buzzfeed to pursue his artist career?
Well, last week Ellis posted about ColdStone stealing his work and offered an interesting way to solve this
Take a look at one of his comics, which shows Adam’s distinctive drawing style
Now take a look at some of the art that was traced and stolen
Understandably, people were not too happy about such plagiarism
And just a couple days ago, Ellis tweeted Coldstone’s response
However, not everyone was happy
Others were happy about the exchange and were quick to support the artist
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Share on FacebookJonathan there aren't many cartoonists who would handle a similar situation like this. We must appreciate him for that. The way he handled it without taking revenge. Its amazing!!
Load More Replies...So annoying when big companies do that, but I'm glad it had a happy outcome. I enjoy and will continue to enjoy the work off Adam Ellis.
It's possible ColdStone didn't know about this. A staff artist stole the stuff and submitted as his own..... I bet he's unemployed now.
This whole website is basically an homage to Adam Ellis and I am 100% here for it.
there's like a million different ways to draw a face, they could've at least TRIED to be different. his style is so spottable, it's just lazy copying. good on him for taking a stand.
I bet this is what happened: They just didn't want to put any money in the actual art of their campaign. They probably paid a decent amount for the people who conjured up an 'advertising strategy' and then the rest of the budget didn't allow for an experienced artist. So they hired someone who's somewhat into drawing, someone semi-professional, who traced a few pics because of deadline pressure or because their own style isn't developed enough. And now, due to public pressure, the company has to donate money they couldn't find for a professional artist in the first place.
Although it is frustrating that they weren't sued for plagiarism, I am glad that they had donated money. Adam Ellis did the right thing
Lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive with no guarantee that you'll win even if the case looks like a slam dunk. Cold Stone has deep pockets and they could drag it out for years, bankrupting any "little guy" with just the legal costs. Ellis is smart enough understand this. And instead of looking for revenge, he gave them a way to save face and avoided being dragged into a lengthy legal battle with the likelihood of that they'll receive, at most, a small fine. His move was elegant and breathtaking in it's simplicity and impact. Win-Win for everyone (especially Inner City Arts). Now, Adam Ellis can move on, without any legal debt, and create more art.
Load More Replies...You steal one you can call it plagiarism. You steal more than one then call it research.
I have a question that's a little off topic. Is Coldstone any better tasting ice cream then some of the other leading Brands like Ben & Jerry's? It seems to me that the repair while you wait aspect of Cold Stone is just a marketing gimmick so that they can charge more for their product. Does anyone agree or disagree.
the cold slab is just for mixing in the toppings, not actually preparing the the ice cream. Ice cream itself is ok, maybe little smoother than average. If you want really good ice cream try brand called Graeter's, its only handmade in small batches using french pot method
Load More Replies...What adds insult to injury for me, is when your work is used on a really crappy, meh campaigns. Like the above.
They didn't use the pictures themselves, they redrew it.
Load More Replies...Deplorable. But aint this the fellow who faked being haunted for publicity?
How the hell could the "artist" working for Coldstone actually think that s/he could easily go on with shamelessly tracing a webcomic artist who's already known around the Internet?
I appreciate the donation but I'm done with Coldstone. They got a hell of a deal via theft.
Even the copied versions are so bad. Seeing your work elsewhere as an artist without your knowledge and acknowledgement really painful. Glad he was able to handle this situation very well.
He should still obtain a lawyer to prevent this from happening again. Also cold stone pulls in tons of money, they can donate way more than $10K.
It seems that their donation of money could be an admission of guilt. Maybe the kind that could hold up in a court of law.
I hope this solution implied a cease and desist from continuing to use the stolen work. This method of shaming the thief probably worked much faster than years of litigation...not to mention expense. Blocking some right after asking a question is slimey. Hope curvsnwhatever, grows up soon.
I see people say his style is very distinguishable, but ive seen many people who can easily mimick / use that style. Also Adam Ellis steals all his jokes from other peoples posts. I mean, ALL the time.
The other benefits here are that Adam Ellis' humanitarianism: (1) drew attention to a company's thievery and bad behavior in a way that offered a REPARATION SOLUTION rather than just the non-effective, usual make-wrong that is the barbarian way; (2) positive energy and attention are drawn to Adam Ellis AND his charity. Intelligent companies with people with integrity at the helm WILL want to hire Adam and keep the prosperity energies and consciousness going strong; and (3) coldstone and cohorts will be more considerate in the future -- even if it's just consideration for themselves (as is typical), it will extend to less offense to others -- because they were given the opportunity to EVOLVE CONSCIOUSNESS instead of the need defend their heinous behavior in court -- which also would have wasted Adam's time, finances, and energy -- which was put to a much better use in the way he handles it with LOVE.
Curvsandcurls is a bit of a c**t it seems- nothing like insulting or criticising someone and blocking them so they can't reply; real sign of maturity right there...
I still think the company should be punished and shamed publicly
Yes, we do. Stealing someone else's work is a horrible thing to do... I recall the moment when Domino's stole a young lady's artwork... why do people do this? My guess is that when they cannot make the cartoons themselves, they get jealous and steal from others.
Want to know what's sad about this though, the company can then write that off as a taxable donation and claim back a large chunk of it :(
Youre angry because they helped someone with the money, but they can write it off.... Youd rather no one get helped, because you dont like how taxes work. I dont see whats "sad" about this at all. Youre an evil person.
Load More Replies...I really like Adam's work, been a follower for a long time now and its nice he mentioned instead to donate to inner city kids :) idk how they thought no one would notice....his style is recognizable.
You've obviously never had your work plagiarized.
Load More Replies...That's rich... Adam Ellis had his work stolen. Well, hopefully now he knows how that feels after stealing jokes off of Tumbler.
Not to mention... it's not like they're individual works... the man literally copies and pastes his own work over and over again with new (but somehow the same) unfunny jokes. Not that I'm on Coldstone's side here... just saying it's a pile of s**t... they should have stolen from someone better.
Load More Replies...Yeah....OK. The style is very badly imitated. But I do not see any evidence that they traced original images. The best argument would be to put side by side the original and traced images. This is poor evidence of anything except copying style, very badly. So badly that it really does not seem like misappropriation at all. If you post your images on the web, this is the risk. If your next post is about your bad break-up, don't bother. Sheeeesh!!!
So all of my work that gets published online: I should expect it to be plagiarized?
Load More Replies...Now by their actions, they have admitted their guilt is the time to invoice them for plagiarization.
Jonathan there aren't many cartoonists who would handle a similar situation like this. We must appreciate him for that. The way he handled it without taking revenge. Its amazing!!
Load More Replies...So annoying when big companies do that, but I'm glad it had a happy outcome. I enjoy and will continue to enjoy the work off Adam Ellis.
It's possible ColdStone didn't know about this. A staff artist stole the stuff and submitted as his own..... I bet he's unemployed now.
This whole website is basically an homage to Adam Ellis and I am 100% here for it.
there's like a million different ways to draw a face, they could've at least TRIED to be different. his style is so spottable, it's just lazy copying. good on him for taking a stand.
I bet this is what happened: They just didn't want to put any money in the actual art of their campaign. They probably paid a decent amount for the people who conjured up an 'advertising strategy' and then the rest of the budget didn't allow for an experienced artist. So they hired someone who's somewhat into drawing, someone semi-professional, who traced a few pics because of deadline pressure or because their own style isn't developed enough. And now, due to public pressure, the company has to donate money they couldn't find for a professional artist in the first place.
Although it is frustrating that they weren't sued for plagiarism, I am glad that they had donated money. Adam Ellis did the right thing
Lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive with no guarantee that you'll win even if the case looks like a slam dunk. Cold Stone has deep pockets and they could drag it out for years, bankrupting any "little guy" with just the legal costs. Ellis is smart enough understand this. And instead of looking for revenge, he gave them a way to save face and avoided being dragged into a lengthy legal battle with the likelihood of that they'll receive, at most, a small fine. His move was elegant and breathtaking in it's simplicity and impact. Win-Win for everyone (especially Inner City Arts). Now, Adam Ellis can move on, without any legal debt, and create more art.
Load More Replies...You steal one you can call it plagiarism. You steal more than one then call it research.
I have a question that's a little off topic. Is Coldstone any better tasting ice cream then some of the other leading Brands like Ben & Jerry's? It seems to me that the repair while you wait aspect of Cold Stone is just a marketing gimmick so that they can charge more for their product. Does anyone agree or disagree.
the cold slab is just for mixing in the toppings, not actually preparing the the ice cream. Ice cream itself is ok, maybe little smoother than average. If you want really good ice cream try brand called Graeter's, its only handmade in small batches using french pot method
Load More Replies...What adds insult to injury for me, is when your work is used on a really crappy, meh campaigns. Like the above.
They didn't use the pictures themselves, they redrew it.
Load More Replies...Deplorable. But aint this the fellow who faked being haunted for publicity?
How the hell could the "artist" working for Coldstone actually think that s/he could easily go on with shamelessly tracing a webcomic artist who's already known around the Internet?
I appreciate the donation but I'm done with Coldstone. They got a hell of a deal via theft.
Even the copied versions are so bad. Seeing your work elsewhere as an artist without your knowledge and acknowledgement really painful. Glad he was able to handle this situation very well.
He should still obtain a lawyer to prevent this from happening again. Also cold stone pulls in tons of money, they can donate way more than $10K.
It seems that their donation of money could be an admission of guilt. Maybe the kind that could hold up in a court of law.
I hope this solution implied a cease and desist from continuing to use the stolen work. This method of shaming the thief probably worked much faster than years of litigation...not to mention expense. Blocking some right after asking a question is slimey. Hope curvsnwhatever, grows up soon.
I see people say his style is very distinguishable, but ive seen many people who can easily mimick / use that style. Also Adam Ellis steals all his jokes from other peoples posts. I mean, ALL the time.
The other benefits here are that Adam Ellis' humanitarianism: (1) drew attention to a company's thievery and bad behavior in a way that offered a REPARATION SOLUTION rather than just the non-effective, usual make-wrong that is the barbarian way; (2) positive energy and attention are drawn to Adam Ellis AND his charity. Intelligent companies with people with integrity at the helm WILL want to hire Adam and keep the prosperity energies and consciousness going strong; and (3) coldstone and cohorts will be more considerate in the future -- even if it's just consideration for themselves (as is typical), it will extend to less offense to others -- because they were given the opportunity to EVOLVE CONSCIOUSNESS instead of the need defend their heinous behavior in court -- which also would have wasted Adam's time, finances, and energy -- which was put to a much better use in the way he handles it with LOVE.
Curvsandcurls is a bit of a c**t it seems- nothing like insulting or criticising someone and blocking them so they can't reply; real sign of maturity right there...
I still think the company should be punished and shamed publicly
Yes, we do. Stealing someone else's work is a horrible thing to do... I recall the moment when Domino's stole a young lady's artwork... why do people do this? My guess is that when they cannot make the cartoons themselves, they get jealous and steal from others.
Want to know what's sad about this though, the company can then write that off as a taxable donation and claim back a large chunk of it :(
Youre angry because they helped someone with the money, but they can write it off.... Youd rather no one get helped, because you dont like how taxes work. I dont see whats "sad" about this at all. Youre an evil person.
Load More Replies...I really like Adam's work, been a follower for a long time now and its nice he mentioned instead to donate to inner city kids :) idk how they thought no one would notice....his style is recognizable.
You've obviously never had your work plagiarized.
Load More Replies...That's rich... Adam Ellis had his work stolen. Well, hopefully now he knows how that feels after stealing jokes off of Tumbler.
Not to mention... it's not like they're individual works... the man literally copies and pastes his own work over and over again with new (but somehow the same) unfunny jokes. Not that I'm on Coldstone's side here... just saying it's a pile of s**t... they should have stolen from someone better.
Load More Replies...Yeah....OK. The style is very badly imitated. But I do not see any evidence that they traced original images. The best argument would be to put side by side the original and traced images. This is poor evidence of anything except copying style, very badly. So badly that it really does not seem like misappropriation at all. If you post your images on the web, this is the risk. If your next post is about your bad break-up, don't bother. Sheeeesh!!!
So all of my work that gets published online: I should expect it to be plagiarized?
Load More Replies...Now by their actions, they have admitted their guilt is the time to invoice them for plagiarization.
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