Uncar, Uncola? Is the new Smart campaign stolen?

Well, I took this from here, but please read this marketing positioning:
"To conform with the non-conformists, in 1968 J. Walter Thompson positioned 7up as the "Uncola"--a product that was as different from colas as rebellious teenagers were from "the Establishment." In The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture and the Rise of Hip Consumerism, Thomas Frank points out that "[7up] managed to produce a fairly serious commercial critique, equating the tyanny of mass society with the cola monopoly." (Frank, 164) Whereas cola was dreary homogeneity, Frank argues, 7up was the beverage of difference, daring and rebellion."
Now replace everything above related to beverages by the word "automotive industry" and.. Voila!
Uncola becomes Uncar.
It might be the perfect positioning for the US market, but... Didn't anyone notice that it has been done before? Is this a tribute? Or a blatant theft?
Your two cents are appreciated (you may even give the money to me by hand if you wish! :) )...