It used to be that copying someone else’s work was a bad thing, but now that consumers increasingly have access to sophisticated production tools, just about anyone can copy, modify, sample and remix an existing piece of work and turn it into their own.

As everyone knows, the old spice spots have gotten a lot of buzz, but more than that, they’ve inspired others to copy them, which has essentially created a never ending insider’s joke that requires viewers to go back and view the original.

To see what I mean…

Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

New Spice – Study Like A Scholar, Scholar

Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster

There are probably countless others, but the point is, the old idiom is still true: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

So now the question is “What can we make that will capture the imaginations of content creators everywhere so that they will flatter us (and our brands) with their countless imitations?”