[ChiragM]

Ferrari has threatened to sue a fashion designer over a few Instagram posts. The Italian carmaker says the post "tarnishes the reputation of Ferrari's brands and causes Ferrari further material damage".



One of the pictures in question shows a pair of sneakers on the designer's personal Ferrari 812 Superfast. The designer, Philipp Plein, says that Ferrari's letter is blackmail and he has not deleted the posts from his Instagram account. Ferrari claims that by using pictures of the car with his product, Philipp is using Ferrari's trademark for promotional purposes to increase his product's visibility.

Philipp Plein also says that he bought his first Ferrari 10 years back and also bought a Ferrari recently for his mother as a birthday gift. He also lashed out at Louis Camilleri, CEO of Ferrari and claims that he is disappointed and disgusted about Ferrari's claims.



Link to Team-BHP News

Source: The Verge, Instagram

[Nilesh5417]

I would have said Ferrari had gone too far ideally. But when i see the colour of the shoes, and the placement on the car with the Ferrari logo in the pic clearly visible, i somehow also see the point that Ferrari is trying to make. Leaves me confused in general as to where the whole trade mark logic should stop.

[simeonovitch]

Not the first time Ferrari's done that.

They took on DeadMau5 and his nyan cat ferrari, nicknamed Purrari.
So much so that DeadMau5 removed the wrap and sold the car.

[Rajeevraj]

From another article on the topic, I believe Ferrari was more upset about certain other more 'objectionable' content in the images along with the Ferrari. Hurt their image apparently.

[Jeroen]

Ferrari claims that by using pictures of the car with his product, Philipp is using Ferrari's trademark for promotional purposes to increase his product's visibility.

When I look at that image, it is obvious that Philipp was using in such a way deliberately.

The Ferrari logo and name are very obvious. He could have put the sneakers in such a way no name/logo was visible. He could have used any other car, but to me this appears to be a very deliberate choice and framing/composition.

So, yes this guy is a crook for no other reason he is using another brand to his own commercial advantage and does not want to pay for it. Despicable.

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

Leaves me confused in general as to where the whole trade mark logic should stop.

In essence it is very simple. You are not allowed to make use of anybody’s trade mark logic, without their explicit approval to do so. Especially using somebody else trade mark and or logo’s for your own business / commercial gain is not allowed.

Brands often tolerate a certain useaage of the brands/logo’s if it suits them. E.g. our local Alfa Romeo Spider club is not going to sued by Alfa for using the Alfa logo on our club magazine, web site etc. But technically we would need their permission. They know us and they know it’s all hardcore Alfisti’s, it is a club, non-profit, non-commercial. Some years ago Alfa had all independent garages/workshops that had Alfa logo’s on their premises remove them. These garages/workshops have no official ties to Alfa, yet they promote their business as being Alfa specialist. Which for a number of them was true. Still, you can not use somebodies’ logo / brand to promote your own business without their permission. If you do, it is simple stealing!

Jeroen

[landcruiser123]

In the age of Machine Learning and Image recognition, this picture would also be under the hashtag #Ferrari. There is a special 'luxury' status attached to Ferrari- so I feel Ferrari's sentiments.

OTOH- when you buy the car, you should have every right to use it as you please. Do you sign an agreement waiving off the rights for you to use it for a promotional purpose?

[jailbird_fynix]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

OTOH- when you buy the car, you should have every right to use it as you please. Do you sign an agreement waiving off the rights for you to use it for a promotional purpose?

Yes, they have a clause for this in their sales contract. Otherwise they wouldn’t be making a legalese statement. Anything to do with tarnishing with their image or logo warrants a cease-and-desist order.



Just so that something like this doesn't happen to their cars.

It certainly doesn't help when people flaunt their 'modded' Ferrari in the media like this.

[bigron]

That shot is indeed product placement. The matching color, position of the shoes, the visibility of the car logo all can be construed to be a collaboration.

Both the parties are mum on the issues right now and it should end up in a compromise. Unless Ferrari really wants to proceed with litigation.

[jayguar]

Its not just Ferrari. It can be any brand. If a particular brand's logo is used for commercial purpose, a permission to use or a contract is needed.

[india008]

Look at the reach that post got. From a simple post in Instagram to team-bhp forum and every where. The designer got what he was looking for, effortless and free, social media coverage.

[kiranton]

It's plain stupid on the part of Ferrari. And Philipp Plein is the only winner in this. Any conversation/debate about a little known brand in the online world is going raise their brand awareness however you look at it. Will Ferrari sue a five star hotel chain if they use a green car in their ad? Or a high perfume brand? The answer would be NO. Car manufacturers have been trolling each other for decades and there's has never been a clear winner in any.

[RajeevSharma]

I think Ferrari does not have a case if they think that this person is trying to promote these shoes and manufactured by them as they do not manufacture shoes so, question that people may or perceive these shoes to be designed by Ferrari does not arise.

The second case where Ferrari thinks that this person is using their brand value to promote his product by using their image may also hold little water as if it is a popular brand than people already know what it is popular for and will never associate it to shoes.

There was a famous story at Team-BHP some time back that some maharaja was somehow ill treated by Rolls-Royce in London so, he ordered some Rolls Royce and used it as garbage collection duty. Rolls Royce apologised as it was hurting their brand value not sued him as Maharaja could put his car to any usage he liked. In this case, this person can put his shoes on the car as much as he pleases as he paid for the car. Posting image is only consequential to what use it is being put for. If it is okay to put shoe in the trunk, it is okay to place them on the roof also. Just my opinion though.

[jayguar]

Originally Posted by RajeevSharma

In this case, this person can put his shoes on the car as much as he pleases as he paid for the car. Posting image is only consequential to what use it is being put for. If it is okay to put shoe in the trunk, it is okay to place them on the roof also. Just my opinion though.

He sure can post images with shoes placed anywhere on the car but without the Ferrari logo. The way it was posted, it definitely looked like Ferrari partnered with his brand. People can easily mistake it since there are Ferrari co-branded / authorized products available in the market.

[Funny]

Originally Posted by jailbird_fynix

It certainly doesn't help when people flaunt their 'modded' Ferrari in the media like this.

In Deadmau5's case, he did not do anything for commercial gains but still Ferrari made him change the car back into its stock form, which he sold eventually anyway. I do not think Deadmau5 was at fault, it's his car which he bought by paying the full amount and it was not given to him as a gift nor was it leased to him by Ferrari so they didn't have a strong reason to send him a C&D order for modifying his car. He should have the full rights to do any modifications to his own property as long as its not for commercial gains unlike in this case.
PS. I kinda liked the Nyan Cat theme

Edit: Looks like Nissan offered him a Godzilla to mock Ferrari for disappointing its customer. Respect to Nissan. Link: Nissan pokes fun at Ferrari, offers Deadmau5 a 'Purrari' replacement

[bigron]

@Rajeev Sharma ~ The way that image has been clicked, it can easily be deciphered as product promotion and collaboration. The fact that Ferrari has collaborated with various designers over the years and has come out with Ferrari branded shoes also does not help matters.

The shoes have not been randomly kept and that Ferrari logo has not cropped up un- intentionally in that photo. He could have placed them anywhere on the car if it was a random shot.

Secondly, people are aware that Ferrari branded shoes exist. So a case is definitely made out for Ferrari to feel that the designer is promoting his shoes using the Ferrari brand or is trying to imply that there is an alliance between the two. Also, the fact that shoes are the same color as the Ferrari gives weight to this notion. A different color shoe on the hood or roof of the car would have not raised eyebrows.

Lastly, comparing what Raja Jai Singh of Alwar did with Rolls Royce in 1920s ( it is wrongly believed that Maharaja Bhupender Singh of Patiala used them for collecting garbage, story for another day) when the IP laws were in their infancy and after all you were dealing with the Maharaja before Independence compared to a German fashion Designer in 2019 makes little sense.

Apparently, the designer has uploaded another picture that allegedly shows profanity. This is getting interesting.