When Magazines Rip Off Ideas

In May 2011, Amanda from Ruffled published a DIY project she had created on her blog, these lanterns made from aluminum sheets:

Six months later, in the November 2011 issue of Family Circle magazine, the same idea was published as one that their writer had come up with on her own:

This isn't just annoying, by also publishing it on their website, Family Circle directly impacts Amanda's business by siphoning traffic. If they loved the lanterns so much, they should have contacted Amanda and asked her to contribute to their magazine with the appropriate credit rather than ripping off the idea completely.

In another example, compare this cover of the Winter/Spring 2009 issue of Phoenix Bride and Groom magazine with this advertisement for the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago:

The Ritz-Carlton has been using this ad for several years and in 2007 even included it as the background of an invitation for an event they held in January 2008:

This sort of thing is happening more frequently and it has to stop.

It's tempting to assume that no one in Phoenix would see an ad in a Midwestern magazine. This is a mistake for several reasons. First, the Internet. While I first noticed the ad because I bought the magazine while on a trip to Chicago (I buy wedding magazines in every city I visit), a quick Google search turned up all the images used here. Second, the Phoenix/Scottsdale area is one of the most popular destination wedding locations in the United States. Engaged couples from across the country planning an Arizona wedding are reading more than just the local Phoenix bridal magazines.

It's tempting for Family Circle to assume that their target market of moms won't notice that this was a knock off of an original DIY project published on a bridal blog six months ago. Pinterest, however, makes it incredibly more difficult to copy an idea without being caught. Also, Ruffled is one of the most highly-trafficked wedding blogs in the world. There is some cross-over in readership and demographics.

Social media doesn't make a company creative or uncreative; it amplifies what they already are. Social media also raises the bar. It makes it infinitely harder to run a business on lazy creativity because it ensures that thousands of people will notice. Print media does not exist in a vacuum. If you want your brand to be known as better than anyone else, you actually have to BE BETTER. Some magazines have learned how to do this well. Others still have a long way to go.