Ittefaaq or intellectual theft? Amer Jaleel alleges Wagh Bakri used Curativity’s pitched idea

New Delhi: When a creative pitch ends in silence, most agencies move on. But when that silence echoes back as a nationally broadcast campaign, at times, frame for frame, it’s hard to call it just a coincidence.

That’s the dilemma Amer Jaleel, one of Indian advertising’s most respected voices, finds himself in. 

In a LinkedIn post, the Curativity co-founder and former Group CCO and Chairman of MullenLowe Lintas Group has accused Wagh Bakri of appropriating a campaign concept developed by his startup. 

The tea brand’s newly released ad, executed by FCB India, carries striking similarities to a pitch Curativity submitted months ago.

The Wagh Bakri latest ad: 

The pitch in question, Jaleel said, was requested by a former client who had recently joined Wagh Bakri. It was built around the warmth of relationships — a signature of the Wagh Bakri brand — and included the tagline “Aisi Chai Jo Zubaan Pe Reh Jaaye” along with a concept that spotlighted the brand’s tea masters as the soul of the story. According to Jaleel, the final film that aired mirrored the pitch in “tonality, narrative, and key visuals.”

“Among the ‘Ownable Cuts’ we presented was this tagline, ‘Aisi Chai Jo Zubaan Pe Reh Jaaye.’ Among the strategic recommendations was an idea to use the Tea Masters as the product window instead of the usual tea gardens,” he wrote. 

Wagh Bakri has yet to respond publicly to the allegations. FCB India, which joined the brand’s creative roster earlier this year, also remains silent.

The episode has reignited an age-old debate in advertising: Who owns an idea? While Indian IP laws provide limited protection for creative pitches, the ethical consensus in the industry has long held that agencies deserve better, either through pitch fees, non-disclosure agreements, or basic transparency in outcomes.

Jaleel’s post is more than just a protest; it’s a warning shot, especially for emerging agencies navigating a system tilted in favour of big brands and opaque procurement processes.

Industry veterans quickly rallied around him. Some called the incident disgracefully familiar, while others urged for stricter industry protocols to protect creative work. A few dissenting voices, however, pointed to the murkiness of originality in advertising, where similar briefs often lead to overlapping ideas.

This isn’t the first time Jaleel has taken a public stand. In 2022, he accused Motilal Oswal of lifting a MullenLowe Lintas campaign developed in 2017 and reproducing it in-house without credit. And just this year, Creativeland Asia took WinZO to court for allegedly copying a pitched campaign, pushing the matter into the Delhi High Court. In 2023, Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) faced accusations of idea theft from Wieden+Kennedy India, further illustrating the industry’s challenges.

In a twist of irony, Wagh Bakri itself once filed a plagiarism suit in 2017, accusing a rival brand of lifting its “Rishton Ki Garmahat” campaign. Now, it's the one facing allegations of creative borrowing, a reminder that in advertising, reputations often hang by the threads of integrity.

As for Jaleel, he ends his note not with fury, but with a bitter smile: “Let’s call it an Ittefaaq.”

But in an industry where coincidence too often wears the mask of convenience, his post feels less like resignation and more like a quiet call for reform.