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Meerkat Plagiarism? Tracey Emin Accused of Echoing Ad

by Zoe Strimpel
Mon, 4 Feb 2008 at 6:05 PM

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Tracey Emin's interesting, if slightly smirk-raising, idea of meerkat models for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square has caused a second ripple. The agency running the advertising campaign for E.on, the energy company, has hinted at similarities between Ms. Emin's proposal and its work. The ad shows 22 meerkats spilling over boxes, while Ms. Emin proposes four of the animals in bronze, placed atop the plinth. The ad was launched in September, four months before Ms. Emin unfurled her Plinth proposal.

Of course, TBWA, the advertising agency concerned, is rather chuffed at the situation. As its creative director told the Times of London, it's more usual for advertising agencies to be accused of stealing artists' ideas. Ms. Emin denied having seen the ad, much less copied it. "I haven't been influenced by any advertising campaign in my life," she told the Times. "The fact is that I adore meerkats. I have drawings of meerkats from 12 years ago. I'm completely besotted by the creatures. A plinth is not a box ... they have to be standing on a plinth as it's in Trafalgar Square." Hard to argue with that, really. Anyway, who knew meerkats were so popular?

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