Happy 5th birthday to Subservient Chicken

Time flies on the Web. Five years ago today, Burger King's Subservient Chicken first graced us with his presence. Not only was the chicken a seminal moment for interactive creativity, it also marked the beginning of the ongoing slugfest between ad agencies and digital shops for credit. You might recall the story: Crispin Porter + Bogusky dreamed up Subservient Chicken but the Barbarian Group actually made it—and played a big role in coming up with the idea. Many spats followed over where credit should lie. It was the same story for many digital projects that followed, whether it's HBO's "Voyeur" or OfficeMax's "Elf Yourself." Rick Webb, a founder of the Barbarian Group, commemorates the S.C. anniversary with an exhaustive blog post (13 footnotes!) recounting how the chicken was born. It's a messy tale, without a sketch on a napkin. "If you ask me, the mystery is more about why everyone wishes it was a single person in an ah-ha moment," he writes. "We get that a lot still. People want it to be dramatic. As if doing things methodically until you get a great idea is disappointing. As if coming up with a good idea should be easy."
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