• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 7, 2016

What with the constant barrage of Clinton and Trump news, no one could really fault you if you didn't know another guy, Gary Johnson, was vying for President as well. He's the Libertarian candidate, and as history has illustrated many times before, he -- and any candidate that's not either Republican or Democrat -- is unlikely to see any true traction in the race. 

With full knowledge of that reality, Tampa-based ad agency Spark set out to create a mock campaign for the candidate. The agency published the mock campaign in a newsletter and even sent it to the Johnson campaign as a lark. Accompanying the campaign is a style guide complete with fonts, colors and downloadable designs.  

Of the effort, Spark Art Director Alex Coyle said: “We didn’t want to get into politics. It was just a different kind of project that we thought would be interesting and challenging to explore. “We did not initially get a response, it was something we were hoping for, but again it was just an exercise in brand." 

When the agency received no response from the Jonson campaign, they figured the exercise was over. But then they noticed the Johnson campaign had launched an effort of their own. And it was very, very similar to the campaign the agency designed.  

Of that surprise, Spark CEO Tony Miller said: "I think there was some surprise that they hadn’t contacted us first and said 'hey, do you mind if we use this' or 'hey, we are going to use this."

Miller isn't out for blood and isn't planning to sue, but he would like, at minimum, recognition of the fact the Johnson campaign borrowed the agency's work, saying, "It would be nice if they recognized that 'hey, this is something that Spark did,' and give us a little acknowledgment for the work."

On why the Johnson campaign may have ripped off Spark's work, Miller added: "I think they are probably using that thinking it was out there in the public domain for them to use and probably don’t have a full understanding of what creative license is all about. You just can’t take somebody’s work without permission or without potentially paying for it."

What say you, Gary Johnson?