Overview
- Thierry Dedieu, author of the 2017 book Un Noël pour le loup, alleges the short film Le Mal-Aimé lifts key scenes and has engaged lawyers after unsuccessfully seeking contact and a potential collaboration.
- Romance and Intermarché deny any plagiarism, saying the story elements are universal Christmas archetypes and that the film’s shots and visuals differ from Dedieu’s work.
- Dedieu has publicized what he calls visual correspondences and added a red banner to his book cover suggesting it “inspired” the ad, while no court filing has been reported.
- The campaign has drawn massive global attention, with hundreds of millions of views and projections near a billion this week, and was produced by Romance with Illogic Studios without using artificial intelligence.
- Trade unions for Intermarché staff criticized the company’s social record, saying employees still await concrete recognition even as the wolf character becomes a commercial symbol.