Pascal Oparada
Producers of Matina’s latest advert seemed to be waltzing through a maze of creative confusion – and randomly pointing at tunes – when it authorized the release of their new advert jingle currently airing on both television and radio.
You’d almost mistake it for a remix of Airtel’s wave-making 444 advert jingle, which held viewers and listeners spellbound in 2020.
If Airtel should sue for copyright infringement, it will dust Maltina fair and square.
Listening to both tunes, you’d think producers of Maltina jingle were within earshot when Airtel came out with that banging hit jingle and planned to reproduce theirs one year after.
The only difference is the lyrics but the rhythm is the same both in style and presentation.
Surprisingly though, both jingles have amassed millions of views on YouTube. Maybe those viewing and listening think they are one and the same thing
Over 1.5 million views for Maltina is not bad for a brand playing catch up. Comments on their YouTube Channel are turned off. Why? After myriads of viewers must have accused Maltina of trying to take the shine off Airtel, maybe.
Airtel is not complaining either, but brand analysts are. They accuse Maltina of aping Airtel’s storytelling format.
Even though Airtel is trying to sell their product, subscribers in their comment section on YouTube say they can’t seem to get enough of the song simply because it is suave and fashionable – just what millennials will rave about.
With over 1.7 million views by Airtel, brand analysts say Maltina wants to latch on to that market, albeit rhythmically. Others see it as a pass off.
Voiced by the then 400-level undergraduate of Mass Communication from the University of Ilorin, Omolade Oyetundun, many mistook her delivery of Airtel’s 444 advert for the rave-making musician, Teni the Entertainer.
She told journalists that she got the Airtel job offer after winning the Unilorin Idol competition.
“After winning Unilorin Idol, people were willing to record for me free, and I decided to take my music to another level. I did back up for artists in Ilorin and I began to sing at events, especially those organised in Kwara State.
“444 did not just happen; it was a blessing because I never saw the opportunity coming so soon. I did a cover of ‘Duduke’ by Simi on my Instagram page and I got a repost from her and a man who runs an advertising agency saw the video and reached out to me. Since then, he has been supporting me. Asked if I could do commercials, I confirmed to him that I could, despite my relatively little experience. He gave me a trial and boom, it became the viral Airtel commercial.
“During the lockdown, I didn’t want my Instagram page to just be there so I thought of a way to keep it running so I was doing covers for other songs. A particular cover I did, “Duduke” by Simi, got the attention of a lot of people after I got a repost from Simi. The CEO of Soltracka, that is the agency that I did the Airtel advert for, reached out to me and told me to come over to the studio and we built a working relationship from there. That was how we started and on a particular day, he called me to come and try something out and we did it. He told me it was an Airtel advert and I was really excited about it. That was how it happened simply.
“The lyrics were already penned down. I liked it, I enjoyed it and I personalised it. I put myself into the lyrics because that was what would bring out the beauty of any work of art. As a musician, whether you wrote your lyrics or not, if you don’t put yourself into the lyrics, you may not get the best out of it. So, I did not write it but I put bits of myself into it and it came out well.” she told newsmen in an interview.
Irrespective of what producers of that Maltina jingle think, it is big enough, well established enough and popular enough not ape another’s success.
