121103 Did SNSD Plagiarize Old Airline Ads in Recent Album Jacket Photos?

Girls′ Generation (SNSD) is drawing controversy over allegations that the group has plagiarized its recent look from a series of old ads.

SNSD recently released a batch of teaser images for its upcoming second Japanese album, Girls’ Generation II~ Girls&PEACE, on November 1.

While the transformation of the SNSD members as flight attendants won praise from fans, some pointed out that the concept looked a bit familiar, leading one netizen to dig up and post a series of old airline advertisements for comparison on an online community board.

According to the netizen’s finding, the ads are from an old 1971 Southwest Airlines print ad as well as advertisements for the now non-existent PSA back in 1962.

The pictures revealed not only near-identical body-hugging orange and maroon outfits worn by the flight attendants in the advertisements but similar props and poses such as one where all the SNSD members are seen lined up on the airplane staircase.

The incident has since divided netizens over whether the concept was a parody of the older print ads or whether SM Entertainment has blatantly plagiarized the looks without permission.

Comments from netizens ranged from disappointment such as, “This is a complete case of plagiarism” and “How embarrassing” to “I don’t think SM would really have outright plagiarized this look. It must be a parody.”

Photo Credit: Online community