Digenis.org

About a year ago I mentioned how a friend of mine insisted that Walt Disney had stolen the idea for Mickey Mouse from the Russian cartoon Cheburashka. Although I think the resemblance in that case is purely coincidental, as much can’t be said for some other characters and elements in Russian advertising.

As I walk down the streets of Moscow, flip through magazines and newspapers, and catch Russian commercials on TV, I often see advertisements strikingly similar to American ones.

Take for example Sam Samych, peddler of pel’meni for the Russian company Talosto. The chef-hat-wearing ball of dough bears more than a passing resemblance to the famous Pillsbury Doughboy. Judge for yourself:

Of course, if we look back at Russian Fairy Tales we’ll see that the Russians were imagining talking balls of dough far before the American Leo Burnett Ad Agency. Then there are those who say that Sam Samych takes after a certain Russian politician:

If you’re eager to see Sam Samych in action, check out this Pel’meni commercial.

I’ll be posting a few more examples of this throughout the week. Know any others?