Hot water

Yorkshire Water has been ridiculed for posting a local ad comprised of royalty-free video.

‘Off-the shelf’ video footage bought from stock vendors can be useful for the odd shot which is hard to obtain.

What got them in 'hot water' isn't just that they chose not to commission original work but the gross inauthenticity of buying clips shot outside the county and event the country.

The irony here is that Yorkshire Water were probably trying to save money by using stock. If so that was a 'false economy' because after they got called out it turned into a PR disaster. Yorkshire Water deleted it after environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey highlighted it as an example of customer contempt. 

Over reliance on library footage can make visuals look generic or irrelevant at best and at worst totally undermine credibility.

Don’t assume using stock footage will save you time or money. It may actually take longer to find or cost more in the long term.

Keep your content as authentic, fresh and relevant as possible.