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TV duo Ant & Dec forced to address accusations of plagiarism in a new spoof video

Joke clip addresses supposed similarity of logo for duo's mock bank to that of real bank Santander

Jack Peat
Friday 03 January 2020 15:11 GMT
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Ant and Dec pictured in November 2019
Ant and Dec pictured in November 2019

TV duo Ant & Dec have been forced to address accusations of plagiarism in a new spoof video.

The I’m a Celebrity stars launched a new bank earlier this year, taking the market by storm with a novel brick subscription service and Mini Mocha saving plans.

But they could find themselves in hot water after the Bank of Antandec ran into legal issues.

Footage of a press conference has been released in which the founders address accusations of plagiarism around the similarity of their logo to that of Santander.

They claim their logo features a baguette, rather than a flame, saying that until recently they had never heard of the “so-called bank” in question.

The duo also took the opportunity to introduce their new high-tech mortgage robot, Stan the Smartbot, whose job is to predict the future of mortgages.

It will form part of a new ad, which launches on 4 January, with a message from Santander that while they can’t predict the future like Stan the Smartbot, they can offer customers some certainty with fixed rate mortgages for up to ten years.

Dan Sherwood, interim chief marketing officer at Santander, commented: “The Bank of Antandec has been our most talked about campaign and this new ad is the latest installment in the development of Britain’s newest bank.

“We want to get across an important message about mortgages, but we also want people to feel good about their finances.

“We hope the latest ads will help people see the benefits of our mortgage range whilst also raising a smile.”

Ant & Dec said: “It’s been really fun getting back into the world of the Bank of Antandec.

“In this latest installment we are revolutionising the world of finance with our very own smartbot Stan and dealing with a small copyright issue!”

In June 2019 Santander UK announced a multi-year partnership with Ant & Dec – presenters of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain’s Got Talent and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! – to act as brand ambassadors for the bank.

SWNS

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