Filed under: Brand Suicide, Corporate Evil, Crap Campaigns In History, Crap Marketing Ideas From History!, Crap Products In History, Cunning, Fake Attitude, Marketing Fail, Sport
Next week there will be a post about scam advertising.
For those who don’t know what it means, it basically refers to bullshit certain agencies put out in a bid to look creative despite the fact it only runs once [often in some regional market where the cost – and audience – is minute] and the ‘idea’ is done for a client with no money and no chance of ever being able to bring it to market at scale.
But that’s next week, because today I’m going to talk about business scam.
The bullshit certain opportunists do in a bid to ride a commercial opportunity despite bringing nothing new to the table.
And I mean nothing new.
Because they basically steal from those who have done it well before them.
Have a look at this …
You might think that logo looks familiar – and it does – except it isn’t for Under Armour, oh no, it’s for China’s newest sports brand, Uncle Martian.
I kid you fucking not.
But it gets worse than just ‘borrowing’ from UA, they borrow from everyone – NIKE, New Balance, NYC and even Captain bloody America – which you can check out for yourself by clicking here to see images from their launch event.
I hoped China had got past this sort of behaviour.
It seemed like it.
Sure, many were still being ‘inspired’ by other, more successful brands … but whereas once they stopped at duplication, now we were seeing many develop their own innovations, things that moved them from copycats to creators to, arguably, pioneers.
But Uncle Martian have just shown the bad old ways still exist.
The ones who look for shortcuts.
The ones who don’t care about authenticity or quality or individuality.
The ones who do it just because they think they can get away with it.
But what makes it even worse is that this sort of behaviour doesn’t just affect Uncle Martian, but all of China.
What the people behind this copycat brand have done, is give everyone and anyone who mistrusts China, even more ammunition … from Donald Trump to, sadly, a shitload of people from China.
I know the Government have a policy of wanting to keep revenue in the country rather than see it flow out to international brands, but letting this sort of thing happen is hurting them far more than they may imagine.
But worse, it adds another obstacle for young Chinese entrepreneurs to try and overcome, because they will either be prejudiced against by venture capitalists, or told they should be copying rather than creating to drive the quickest return on investment possible.
I know I am not from here, but the launch of Uncle Martian has utterly disappointed me, because frankly China deserves better than this and is way, way, way better than this.
34 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
you are fucking shitting me.
Comment by andy@cynic April 29, 2016 @ 6:24 amSadly, no. I will be very interested to see where this goes – either legally or commercially. I will also be interested to see if the Chinese Government do take a stand, at least on the multitude of copyright infringements that Uncle Martian have just committed.
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 7:50 amtheyve even ripped off fred fucking perry for that logo. fucking hell, theyve got balls or they just dont give a fuck. im fucking impressed and appalled at the same fucking time. what do your nike owners have to say about it. havent these fuckers ripped off their shoe design? fuck me. even bullshit governments arent that fucking obvious.
Comment by andy@cynic April 29, 2016 @ 6:29 amI hadn’t noticed that. Jesus … they’ve gone for the whole set. They’ll probably bring out a tennis range that uses a logo that’s an amalgamation of Dunlop and Slazenger.
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 7:51 ami know you only have one fucking eye, but use it next time.
Comment by andy@cynic April 29, 2016 @ 8:29 amWow. Just wow.
Comment by George April 29, 2016 @ 6:35 amUncle Martian will soon be on the shelves of the local Walmart since they cannot find anything in America.
Comment by surrender884 April 29, 2016 @ 6:43 amI’m guessing they can get away with it because copyright laws in China are hard to enforce as Michael Jordan found out. Haven’t the guys behind the China Jordan ripoff just IPO?
It can’t be long before Uncle Martian launch their Bugs Bunny range of sneakers. As you said Rob, this sort of thing does China’s reputation even more harm. I
Comment by Pete April 29, 2016 @ 6:51 amYep. http://tinyurl.com/ze3xl9s
Read the Chinese courts justification for not granting Michael Jordan rights over his name – it’s the sort of ridiculous justification you would see in a 1980’s Steven Seagal movie about a small town gangster who makes sure everyone works in his best interests, including the local judge – whose daughter has been kidnapped and will not be returned unless he rules in favour of the thug.
Though the Jordan brand is enormous here so the imitators are appealing to those who aspire to the real thing but can’t quite afford it. Yet.
So while that means a loss of revenue now, long term it signals continued growth, which is why we made this spot for him this year.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWAbwKbhSYQ]
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 7:59 amIf they’re going to invest that much in that spot, they must be happy with their China business.
Comment by Pete April 29, 2016 @ 8:12 amAn excellent post Robert based on a disappointing development.
Comment by Lee Hill April 29, 2016 @ 7:09 amat least these fuckers brought their scam to market. adfuckers only bring their scam to cannes.
Comment by andy@cynic April 29, 2016 @ 7:28 amThat’s a positive in a story that I thought had no positives at all.
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 7:59 amyou are fucking nothing without me.
Comment by andy@cynic April 29, 2016 @ 8:30 amYour disappointment highlights how much you care about the country you live in. Maybe even more than the government.
Comment by George April 29, 2016 @ 8:53 amI think that’s a bit over-the-top, but I care a lot about this country. It’s misunderstood and often looked down on and I hate that – both because it’s an amazing place and it would make my professional life easier, ha – which is why this sort of thing pisses me off because it validates all that prejudice and sets things further back.
Especially – as I said – for the young entrepreneurs who have so much to give and now so many more obstacles to get over.
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 9:23 amThe best thing China can do is enforce Under Armour’s IP, assuming they properly registered it. This requires UA taking it through the correct channels and dealing with bureaucratic nonsense. The good news for UA is there is some precedent there … (bonus for you … it wasn’t the Chinese side that was the bad guy):
http://www.wilsonelser.com/news_and_insights/client_alerts/2329-chinese_court_stuns_new_balance_with_16_million
Comment by Bryan April 29, 2016 @ 10:03 amYes, and I’m sure they will try but as we have seen with other cases, legal rights in one nation doesn’t translate to legal rights in China. It will be interesting to watch.
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 10:05 amYou are right. And if any company goes to China expecting the Chinese to play by the rules of their home country they deserve the 88 different ways they will be fucked. I think its important when any Western company goes in to understand how the games will be played and the risks associated, but also the ways to mitigate that risk or the recourse in a doomsday scenario. Any other way is just asking for trouble.
If things are properly registered locally (that means not trying to enforce your US trademark in China) — there are channels to go through that are effective.
Alternatively they could do it the “local” way and send in the thugs with a message for Uncle Martian.
British company won suit in 2010 over Chinese ripoffs:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/british-victory-in-china-as-patents-dispute-boils-over/story-e6frg8zx-1225825704527
Disney getting special Disney treatment in 2015:
Comment by Bryan April 29, 2016 @ 11:46 amhttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/business/media/disney-china-trademark.html?_r=0
I’ll add that it sucks for any startup that is trying to build a market in the US and someone in China goes “thats a good idea” and registers their IP to lay claim to it … Makes you think that if there is even a tiny chance that in the future your startup will go to China the best time to register your IP there was 3 years before you came up with the idea
Comment by Bryan April 29, 2016 @ 11:47 amI have seen first hand companies who do it well – copyright management – and companies who do it badly and sadly, the majority are in the latter camp rather than the former.
There’s an old NY Detective that has coffee where I get mine every morning who is paid by big corporations to find copyright infringement. I remember asking him what it was like and his reply was telling, “It’s a job for life”.
I’m not saying this situation is unique to China – far from it – but the way the Government aids copyright infringement is ultimately working against itself. People may not see that because with 1.4 billion people, foreign companies want a slice of that pie, but eventually it may end up being a ineffective way to drive growth and profit, which sounds mad – but we’re already seeing some departures from China for that very reason.
Amazing times …
Comment by Rob April 29, 2016 @ 1:27 pmNetizens are upset too from the comments left on their Weibo account. http://weibo.com/unclemartian?refer_flag=1001030103_&is_hot=1&sudaref=mashable.com&sudaref=shanghaiist.com#1461923637101.
Comment by Andy April 29, 2016 @ 5:57 pmWeasels!
Comment by An otter. April 29, 2016 @ 10:28 pm[…] done before. This doesn’t mean that brands should go out and copy one another (like this example). It’s about learning what has been done, understanding what worked and didn’t and […]
Pingback by Been there. Done that. | Something Neue May 1, 2016 @ 1:54 pm‘Intellectual property’.
That’s another of those expressions for which there is no direct Mandarin translation …
I’ll add it to the list, alongside ‘preventive maintenance’, ‘quality assurance’ and ‘human resources’.
Comment by Ian Gee May 2, 2016 @ 2:07 pmLove this post Rob, I certainly won’t be buying anything from this uncle from the outer space anytime soon, ever…
Comment by Freeman May 5, 2016 @ 10:52 am[…] I wrote about one of these things recently, with the launch of ‘sports brand’, Uncle Martian. […]
Pingback by One Step Forward, Four Hundred Steps Back … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] May 30, 2016 @ 6:16 am[…] and you thought it was just Uncle Martian that was taking the most blatant piss […]
Pingback by And They Say China Doesn’t Innovate … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] August 23, 2016 @ 6:20 am[…] showing that for all their progress, a lot of it is only on the surface … here and […]
Pingback by The Last Week Of 2016 … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] December 12, 2016 @ 6:21 am[…] there’s some things I’m not that keen on … the pollution and the copyright infringement to name a few … but apart from that, it’s amazing in so many […]
Pingback by Do As I Say, Not As I Do … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] April 10, 2017 @ 6:16 am[…] set up what is basically a duplicate brand by simply changing a letter or – in the case of Uncle Martian – not even putting in that […]
Pingback by Inspired By … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] September 28, 2017 @ 6:20 am[…] wrote about this a bunch of times with possible this one being the finest example of […]
Pingback by If Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery, Is Duplication The Equivalent Of A Marriage Proposal? | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] October 26, 2018 @ 6:19 am[…] – like Uncle Martian – are terrible, especially as it was a conscious […]
Pingback by A Love Letter To China’s Wonderful, Beautiful, Brilliant Chaos … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] June 28, 2019 @ 6:17 am[…] It’s not just how they used Supreme to inspire their logo in a way Uncle Martian would be jealous of. […]
Pingback by And You Thought The Mouldy BK Burger Ad Was Provocative … | The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!] May 19, 2020 @ 6:16 am