Sensis moves to block ‘Not Happy Jan’ remake, accusing Darrell Lea of ‘cheapening’ an icon
A still from the 'No Worries Jan' campaign, cancelled after just a day on air
Yellow Pages’ parent company, Sensis, has issued Darrell Lea a cease and desist letter over the new ‘No Worries Jan’ campaign. Its inspiration is the Yellow Pages’ iconic ‘Not Happy Jan’ ad, which, according to the Yellow Pages, has been “cheapened to sell chocolate” without its approval.
A Sensis spokesperson confirmed that it has sent the cease and desist to Darrell Lea CEO Tim York and TV networks, and is in the process of sending it to Akkomplice, the creative agency behind the campaign. The letter asks for airing of the ad, which began this week, to cease immediately.
“We are flattered that Darrell Lea has used our iconic Yellow Pages advertising, featuring ‘Not Happy Jan’. However, it has been used without our consultation or approval,” said Yellow Pages’ executive general manager, James Ciuffetelli.
“To see the Yellow Pages brand, which is iconic and trusted by many Australians, and our beloved character Jan, used by another company for commercial gain is a total shock to us and our customers.
“By imitating our ad, we believe it is misleading to consumers. It’s clear on social media that a number of people believe Yellow Pages has endorsed this campaign, which is not the case.”
Ciuffetelli, said that Sensis is taking the protection of its “investments and goodwill” seriously.
“It is important for advertisers and agencies to protect their work, creativity and innovation. This advert is so loved we feel we share it with the Australian people, and we believe it is right to protect this from being cheapened to sell chocolate.”
The ‘No Worries Jan’ campaign was designed to act as a springboard from which the confectionery brand can relaunch into the Australian market, following its 2012 administration.
Tim Stanford, Darrell Lea’s marketing manager, referred to the campaign upon its launch as “big, bold and brilliant work from Akkomplice”.
One day after parent co Telstra have announced they’re laying off 6,000 employees. Way to go Tesltra/Sensis pr people!
DL, this was funny, and a great way to hijack pre-existing culture. Sensis, surely there’s a cleverer way to handle this?
Agree with SENSIS on this one. Can’t imagine outlaying the dollars to shoot this without consultation with the original owners of the concept.
Plagiarism at its worst.
It’s an ad that was popular and ‘not happy Jan’ is still used by those that remember it. I thought Sensis brought it back to life again until I saw the chocolate! I’m not in the business but it would have been obvious to have the legals look at the use of it before even attempting to make an ad from the original concept.
Hi there, you should probably be aware that Sensis is not a Telstra company. It sold its majority stake in us in 2014. As such we are completely independent of Telstra.
Haven’t they got bigger problems like staying in existence?
The original TVC aired 20 years ago, making the youngest person who’d likely remember it around 40 today. Using an old ad to target a 40+ demographic wouldn’t drive appeal an old hat brand amongst a younger demographic. But fair play if the task was to reinvigorate the brand amongst older lapsed lovers.
Who knew Sensis were still in business?
With the demise of Yellow Pages, Jan belongs to Australia now, not to Sensis.
Surely a better play for them would have been to cheekily use this to shine a positive light back on the brand. Now they just look like a bunch of grumpy old men hanging onto the past.
Bang on Adam. A rare moment to react with wit and relevance, but instead, they released the lawyers.
Sorry matey, have to disagree with you there.. I’m in my early 20’s and remember this ad very well and I’m sure many others would agree. “Not happy jan!” was part of the playground vernacular
People under 40 will most likely barely even remember the original “Not Happy Jan” slogan, and even then, 20 years ago when I loved the ad, I never associated it with a phone book anyway. The slogan was catchy, but did it make me think of The Yellow Pages? Never.
Twenty years later, to say the current version will ‘mislead” consumers is utterly ridiculous. For one, I don’t know many people who’d confuse a phone book with a block of chocolate, and secondly, does anyone under 40 care the two products are not even associated? Other than the more ‘mature’ consumers like myself, most people don’t even remember the Yellow Pages these days nor the fact the Not Happy Jan slogan was even associated with it. It’s time to move on and pick your battles Sensis, and in the unlikely event this current ad does makes the older crowd ‘remember’ the Yellow Pages, what’s your problem – free advertising for you.
Bullshiiiiiit. I’m 30 and I remember the ad very well.
I reckon my 25 year old brother knows it too.
See Streisand effect.
So you were 3 to 4 years old when you were in said playground and can specifically remember loving this particular ad and turn of phrase? Wow. Protege.
It’s clearly a parody so that should make it exempt from copyright infringement! Sensis needs to calm down!
Dead wrong. I am in my early 30s and remember it well. I am sure those in their mid to late 20s also remember it.
More than likely you picked up the phrase used in context from your parents, it was widely used. Remembering the ad, what complete and utter gobshite.
You cant use a song without permission.
Why would you think you could use an agency’s and brands creative without permission?
The biggest crime is that they got a different actor to play “Jan”
“The original TVC aired 20 years ago, making the youngest person who’d likely remember it around 40 today.”
So does this mean you can’t remember anything from your teens and even earlier?
Im 21 years old and this chocolate ad confused me. i literally remember the “not happy jan” ad being specifically for yellow pages. i even remember the little boy who speaks about the crocodile in the bath tab “my head went that way and my legs went that way” for HBA. you older generation think we are too young to remember… i think you guys are just losing some more brain cells as your getting older.
As soon as i seen the Darrell Lea ad i thought yellow pages or “sensis” whatever were using it again after so many years. when she said no worries Jan and then it came up Darrell Lea…it confused the s**t out of me. i was following the ad line by line waiting for her to scream “NOT HAPPY JAN”!
This is much more than a hijack of pre-existing culture. It’s a blatant rip-off of another brand’s intellectual property.
Akkomplice clearly knew they were doing the wrong thing which is why they never sought permission to do it in the first place. Let that be a warning to any client that entertains working with them in the future.
It’s a parody but it’s selling a product. You would have to pay if they were using a music track. It’s ripping off a spot that was created by other people for financial gain. They should of least got permission.
Kudos to the team for recreating the ad with such a great eye for detail on the performance, casting and set. Brilliant effort.
Ha ha, so true!
Anyone see The Project last night?
Or Sunrise this morning?
Or the Darrell Lea Facebook page and Instagram feed melting down with positive comments?
No?
The target audience did.
Brilliant.
Oh this is so good especially with the “no worries Jan” at the end
#Sensis ? to you as a spoil sport
@DarrellLea_AU ? for sense of humour
Curious about what the original ‘Not Happy Jan’ creatives thought. Mumbrella, did you reach out to them for comment?
Somebody from the agency is astroturfing…
Normally ideas are not celebrated for stealing. Especially without permission. Next time work with the original agency, client and even the original production team/director. That way you could of really improved the IP.
I’m 30 and I remember the ad well and it’s association with the Yellow Pages, especially as my mum would say “Not Happy Jan” whenever our Yellow Pages wasn’t delivered.
If we were talking about ‘Go-Go-Mobile’ then I’d agree people are unlikely to remember it. But ‘Not Happy Jan’ ran in 2000. People from mid-late 20s onwards will remember this just as vividly as they remember ‘My Dad picks the Fruit’, ‘Bananananana’ or the Lube Mobile and Pizza Hut jingles.
Here’s a $10 bet. Darrell Lea knew this was going to get pulled and have a new advert around it being pulled just waiting to air. I expect to see it next week.
Yep can vouch for that, 25 year old here and distinctly remember and still quote the Not Happy Jan ad.
Not sure you understand how ads work though? You’re acting like the Not Happy Jan ad aired once in the year 2000 and then was never seen again.
As someone in their mid-20s I remember the ad well because I watched it and remember watching it. Emphasis on “remember.” If you’re in your 40s or whatever and can’t remember anything from your childhood…I think that’s your problem not a millennial’s right?
Cheers!
Sadly it probably falls foul of the law of passing off, despite the appropriation of the line by the public… (see Hogan v Grosby)
That said, it’s a shame Yellow Pages didn’t come to their sensis on this and double down, for added whack. Results wise, DL took home the chocolates.
And…
How about all those other ‘creatives’ who have made a career out of borrowing stuff? I mean, paying homage, sorry. Not nearly as clever as this effort. You know, things like ‘You’re the reason we fly’ being resurrected from a dead airline, et al…
Plus…
In terms of longevity, I still wonder where the yellow went when I brush my teeth with Pepsodent.
good question… anyone???
Where’s the original ‘Jan’ – why didn’t they get her? We loved her!
I reckon by about now there are at least 70 creatives who are claiming they had the idea, worked on the campaign and a dozen more who were in the room at the time ;0
Creatives borrowing other creatives ideas? Surely not! Sendle them to purgatory.
The question is do people remember the ad’. Not do they remember the ad when it first went to air.
I certainly remember the first time I heard the 1812 Overture and I’m certainly not 137 years old.
I think you will find that Deborah Kennedy is in both the original Yellow Pages ad and the Darrell Lea ad.
Personally, I thought that the idea and the ad were clever. I also thought that a switched-on ad agency would have obtained clearance before pissing a clients production budget up against a wall.
If I was Darrell Lea I would demand a new ad be made with zero production costs.
Clever and lazy all at the same time.
I so agree Adam. Not Happy Sensis! This is real disappointing. Sensis should have come to realise the benefits of this ad and used it as an opportunity to gain some extra good publicity for themselves as this new ad conjured up great nostalgic memories for me of the original Yellow Pages ad. If they had further issues they could have come to some compromise and negotiation with Darrell Lea as to royalties (or some such), instead of using tyrranical processes through lawyers to get Darrell Lea to stop showing the ad altogether. These actions and decisions by Sensis has left a bad taste in my mouth for the Yellow Pages (and Sensis) brand and reputation, and now there will be horrible memories attached to the original for me unfortunately. Shame on you Sensis!
Thermos.
Hoover.
If they didn’t defend “not happy Jan” it would legally enter the public domain. Personally I think the boat has sailed, but I thought ‘i come from a land downunder’ was an unwinnable plagiarism case and menatwork lost.
Well I am going to buy chocolate what is Yellow Pages?????
Sensis – if this is an asset, why don’t you use it? When was the last time you advertised, particularly in a channel where Jan was built.
I respect your legal rights but don’t make this a moral issue.You created a character to sell a phone book. Now it’s being used to sell chocolate. This won’t cheapen anything.
That Sensis thinks they still have a brand to cheapen.
What a shame!!! This redone ad is such a fab throwback! I loved it! I think this is a case of thinking of it in marketing terms rather than thinking in customer or viewer terms.