Creative agency Leo Burnett Malaysia is seeking legal counsel on claims that a commercial it produced for Petronas, 'Rubber Boy' was plagiarised from the work of filmmaker Tan Chui Mui.

“The allegation that Rubber Boy is based on plagiarised material or script is incorrect. We are also seeking legal advice,” the boss of Leo Burnett, Tan Kien Eng, told Mumbrella.

Mumbrella is a discussion platform on marketing and media issues in Asia.

Kien Eng said he also reached out to Chui Mui to meet with Leo Burnett's writers and is awaiting her response, according to Mumbrella.

Chui Mui had in the past few days went public with claims that Leo Burnett had plagiarised her team's work for the TV commercial 'Rubber Boy', which has been submitted to the Cannes Lion festival.

Using the hashtag #LeoBurnettplagiarism on Facebook, Chui Mui said it was based on a 2014 pitch her team did for Leo Burnett, which was rejected.

However, Leo Burnett creative director James Yap said 'Rubber Boy' is based on his family's story.

Eswara VAN Sharma, a Leo Burnett business director on the Petronas account, also defended the work.

“I see this fanciful story from someone who wanted to come along for a ride,” he said in a Facebook post.



Sharma also told Mumbrella that Chui Mui had been “manipulating facts to bolster their side of the story” by posting a link to two versions of the beginning of the film-maker’s script.

“This is supposedly the same slide, but this was posted by the director on Facebook, purporting to be part of their original treatment,” he told the online portal.

“Note how the bicycle in the earlier slide has now become a kapchai. Strangely close to what actually was depicted in the film. Conveniently.”

'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.