When ads follow art: Benadryl

Sometimes it takes the ad guys a while, but they get there in the end. The recent Benadryl ad we saw on TV1 is straight from Damien Hirst’s Hymn. This six ton, 6.1 meter high bronze made in 2000 was reportedly sold first to Charles Saatchi for one million pounds ($2.7 million) and another three copies have been sold since. Of course Hirst swiped the work from Norman Emms who designed the original for the kids’ educational toy market as Young Scientist Anatomy Set. The toy manufacturer Humbrol, who paid Emms one thousand pounds ($2700) for his efforts, claimed to sell 10,000 of the toy sets a year and sued Hirst. Hirst ended up giving money to charity in an out of court settlement. For £16.99 ($46.28), you can buy a copy of the Humbrol version here and make your own TV advert.
Images: Left Damien Hirst Hymn 2000. Right, frames from the Brenadryl ad