The Cupcake Cannon Video: Making Frosting Waves
In a collaborative piece released in May of 2010 between clothing brand Johnny Cupcakes and Portland initiative Kamp Grizzly, the two have pieced together “The Cupcake Cannon”. In the video, a slew of innocents get shot at through an interesting Cupcake Cannon with…you guessed it, cupcakes. What ensues is a well-shot, fun and experimental video with cupcakes flying in ultra-slow motion and splatters occurring at an even more beautiful pace. Why’s this video stirring up a ruckus though?
The latest commentary on the Johnny Cupcakes blog reveals that the brand’s Cupcake Cannon video might have been bitten recently by an even larger brand, none other than Orbit Gum. In the wake of Orbit’s Tropical Remix gum line, they have release a strikingly similar promotional video, maintaining everything from the memorable cannon cinematography in the opening scenes, to the wardrobe of the innocents. See for yourself:
The question is posed, should the Johnny Cupcakes brand be annoyed? Flattered? Legally defensive? Or is this just a matter of art influencing and inspiring further art? The founder and CEO of Johnny Cupcakes brand had the following to say via his blog:
I guess we should be flattered, right? Kamp Grizzly and I are not looking for any mumbo jumbo legal stuff I don’t think. All I really want is to get custom, limited edition Johnny Cupcakes gum created. I’m serious! That’s not much to ask for. It would also be cool for my friends at Kamp Grizzly to get hired for some commercial work. My contact information is online. Hope to hear from you soon. And to everyone reading this, I’ll keep you updated on all of this. Spread the word and/or voice your opinions to the Wrigley corporation and/or Firstborn Multimedia. I know I’m not overreacting, because I found out about this due to the amount of confusion and frustration of 100+ other people pointing this out, again, more than half of them being professional designers. I just want my own limited edition bubblegum. Maybe some gift certificates to Firstborn Media’s favorite NYC eateries? And/or maybe the owner can purchase some Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts for everyone in the company for Christmas time? Just thinking of some random ways to amicably solve things…
Those are a few of Johnny’s “amicable” demands. Does he deserve them? Deserve more? If we gain any more information on this subject we will be sure to report! Until then, eat on!
