Leading creative agency Leo Burnett Malaysia is under fire after allegations of plagiarism arose over the 2016 Chinese New Year advertisement 'Rubber Boy'.

Filmmaker Tan Chui Mui said the she had pitched the script and concept to Leo Burnett in December 2014, but was told it was not selected - only to see it appear as an advertisement for Petronas.

Rubber Boy was submitted to the Cannes Lions festival under the Craft Section for Best Script, prompting Tan to cry foul and The Screenwriter's Association of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor (Penulis) urging an investigation for "blatant plagiarism" by festival officials.

However, Leo Burnett creative director James Yap said 'Rubber Boy' is actually a "personal family story".

In fact, he said, the Leo Burnett team during the pitching process had to convince Tan's team at Da Huang Pictures that there are ethnic Chinese rubber tappers, he said.

He said 'Rubber Boy' was an amalgamation of his grandfather's story working in the estates after the Japanese invasion of Malaya, his memories of the family selling rubber to the middleman and his experience growing up less well-to-do than his peers.

"When Petronas settled on the theme 'Every Malaysian Is An Inspiration', for 2016 festive ads, I thought of my father and grandfather. The things they had to do to provide for the family.

"So when Tan Chui Mui cried foul, claiming that her story had been plagiarised, I couldn't help but think who stole from who. It hurt that my story had been stolen and the actual writer vilified," he said in a statement on Facebook.

He added that the the dialogue for 'Rubber Boy' "bears no resemblance" to Tan's script.

In several Facebook postings, Tan said her team had not only pitched an idea but developed the story, scouted for locations, looked for cast members and references.

However, when her team met with Leo Burnett over the issue, they were told an idea could not be copyrighted.

"Their lawyer told (my team) that Malaysian law does not protect the idea, and the creative writer said they had only used two of the major scenes, not the whole story.

"For an ad agency who makes money from giving ideas, that is really shocking. What had happened to our creative industry?" she wrote.
 

She said while it is common in the creative industry to consider this an investment for a pitch, she wondered if it encourages exploitation.

"It is not just an idea getting stolen, but the work of three professionals involved," she said.

Particularly grating, she said, was the fact that her pitch was rejected because the story of rubber tappers was said to be too "common", and yet it was submitted and shortlisted for the Cannes Lion.

Penulis believes that Tan and her team's rights were breached.

"Such blatant plagiarism by an internationally recognised advertising agency such as Leo Burnett is a breach of any writer's rights and should not be allowed to persist.

"We would like to stage our official protest towards this act and implore the officials of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to investigate this matter immediately," it said in a statement.

'Rubber Boy' is a 4 minute 58 second television commercial featuring a young boy who learns to value the sacrifices of his rubber tapper mother.