BoingBoing.net published an interesting post on Sunday about Ford (NYSE: F) and the BMC (Black Mustang Club). According to the BMC automotive forum, the club planned to put together a calendar using pictures of their members’ cars and sell it through CafePress. That plan was quickly put to a stop when the law firm representing Ford contacted CafePress saying that the pictures of the cars in the calendar infringes on Ford’s trademarks which includes pictures of Ford cars even after they’re sold.
What do you think about Ford’s strong-arm tactics here? Are they right in trying to protect their brand and trademarks or is this a case of taking things a bit too far?
I have to vote for the latter. I think in today’s society, allowing customers to personalize a brand and give it meaning is a critical component to brand loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing. I think there are times when it’s appropriate to have flexibility around trademark infringements. Sending a cease and desist to a fan club seems like a bad move to me, particularly when that cease and desist tells the most loyal customers to a brand to stop showing off their beloved prized-possessions. I’m sure the Ford Mustang owners who belong to the Black Mustang Club might think twice about buying a Ford in the future now that they know how Fort truly feels about them. At the very least, the message Ford is sending could certainly be interpreted as, “we care more about our trademarks than our customers.”
Luckily, Ford saw the error of their ways, and realized their lawyers were making a mistake and alienating the company’s best customers. Yesterday, the BMC forums published an update announcing that Ford has given approval for the club to print its calendar as originally planned, but has some damage already been done to the Ford brand name?
What do you think?
Tags: Ford, Ford Mustang club calendar, BMC, Black Mustang Club, business law, trademarks, marketing, customer loyalty, branding
First of all – I’m surprised they can do this. They own the copyright even AFTER the cars are sold? Does this extend to everything? My house? My TV?
Secondly – Companies and People are dumb when they do things like this (like Prince last summer putting the stomp down on fan sites around the web).
Other times, I can see where they need to reign it in a little (DC Comics can’t have the image of Batman being bandied around the web in every little fan fic story).
There has to be a middle ground – and the company needs to be thinking long term.
Did Ford actually think pictures of their cars will cause them to sell LESS cars?
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I wrote about this yesterday (should go live later today). Reading the last update, Ford actually had nothing to do with the initial take down – it was Cafe Press acting on their own based on previous notifications about people using Ford logos etc. So in this case, I think Ford have been made a scapegoat for something they did not do.
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That’s interesting, Rachel. I’m looking forward to reading about the updates to this in your post. Thanks for posting.
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[...] believe me. Remember when Ford threatened a Mustang club with copyright infringement for releasing a calendar of their cars (Though the matter was [...]
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