Ciara And Katy Perry Imitating Beyonce

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Have you seen Ciara’s latest GQ pictorial? Then perhaps you noticed Katy Perry’s Killer Queen perfume ads?

Well, if you’ve seen Beyonce’s Mrs Carter tour teasers and GQ cover respectively, you’ve seen Ciara’s and Katy Perry’s as well. Imitation is not only the most sincere form of flattery but also the new way to advertise in the entertaining business.

And to think that some people really strive to find new, original, surprising pitches to better promote their products or their talents, when a simple copy-cat work seems to be enough these days!

Katy Perry Vs. Beyonce

I’ve seen Katy Perry’s Killer Queen ads in September and noticed the striking resemblance with Beyonce’s royal Mrs Carter tour promotional material. But I waved and moved on to more pressing matters (like Thanksgiving).

But the aesthetics are clearly similar. And while Queen Bee is reigning proud on her throne, Katy sits on her reversed throne. Or is it Beyonce’s reversed throne? Try all she might, Katy will never equal Beyonce’s talent or success. That alone renders her ads inefficient and childish.

The name of her perfume alone, ‘Killer Queen’ is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by Queen while Katy Perry is trying to emulate the woman described in that song through her new look. Again, highly original. Up to her fingertips (below Beyonce’s nails from the Mrs Carter promo and Katy Perry’s Killer Queen nails).

One can assume the similarities are due to the fact that both campaigns were directed by famed Swedish director Jonas Akerlund, but blaming it all on coincidence only would only go skin-deep in a matter of entertain-art. The videos (refresh your memory by watching them both as I embedded them below) are almost identical frame-by-frame.

Evidently, Katy is aiming higher than her usual cat-purr-theme. Forget about her two previous perfumes which went by kitten themed names and aesthetics! Now it’s time to ‘Own the Throne’ as we see in the ad picture, masterfully executed by Tim Walker.

Katy? Whose throne are you aiming at?

Ciara Vs. Beyonce

Today I saw Ciara’s GQ Magazine pictorial teaser. And boy, does it look like Beyonce’s GQ February 2013 cover! And the damage doesn’t only reflect on Ciara but also on the photographer and the magazine publishing such similar photoops with two entertaining entities…

The February 2013 issue with Beyonce teasing us from the cover was photographed by Uncle Terry. Cici’s pictorial was signed by Gomillion and Leupold. At least it wasn’t the same photographer. But it’s not even a year ago that Queen Bee’s photo was making the rounds of the interwebs, so it’s not an easy item to forget.

Ciara always had troubles with her image, although courted by haute fashion designers, her entertainer persona seemed to be hectically, erratically trying all edges of the entertainment palette. I just wish she would stick to her amazing dancing and her soulful singing. She’ll always be entertaining and crushingly attractive for her legions of fans without copying anyone. And the picture below is proof enough of her flawlessness.

Truth is that beyond the economic impact of advertising, the social and cultural imprints on the modern individual are harder and harder to individualize. We’re getting so used to be delivered the message and follow it blindly that we rarely see where it all begun and where it will take us.

After being a housekeeper in the 60es and a career woman in the 80es, the Woman in Advertising kept on getting more and more sensual, showing off her flirty, provocative nature deeper and further. We’re witnessing yet another emancipation of the woman in advertising. The reigning woman. (Oprah’s OWN, anyone?) And nothing’s wrong with reigning supreme over one’s specialty. But what do we do when we have several Queens owning the same throne?