International construction company OHL just released the above image as part of a new print campaign from agency Kastner & Partners, Mexico. As we can see, Joe construction worker blankets a dirt road with a sturdy new concrete highway that runs adjacent to the school/prison/housing projects off in the background. It’s a cute spot, but not one we’d really bat too much of an eye at. That is, until we received an anonymous tip accusing OHL and Kaster & Partners of foul play.

It was in this anonymous tip that we were whisked away to the portfolio of Swedish photographer and retoucher, Erik Johansson. It would seem that someone out there in ad world who knows Johansson thinks that Kastner & Partners is guilty of an advertising ripoff, noting that Johansson has a very similar photo serving as the lead image on his portfolio site (below). Basically, tipsters wondered why Johansson wasn’t in the Kastner credits.

So, dear readers, we leave this in your hands. Are OHL and Kastner & Partners guilty of an ad ripoff, or is the whole “the road is a blanket” concept played-out? Maybe this is a sign that if the concept wasn’t played-out before, it certainly is now.