OshKosh B’gosh just declared war against two New York-based comedians over the dignity of their brand. Last week, Three Busy Debras’ Sandy Honig and Alyssa Stonoha uploaded a commercial parody to YouTube called “NOT Osh Kosh B’Gosh Reboot Campaign,” where they star as two “Manhattan artists” named Jebba and Meth who are also the faces of OshKosh B’gosh’s new brand campaign. It’s a clever commercial parody and so far has racked up a modest amount of views at around 800. Today, Honig and Stonoha learned that at least one of those views is an employee of OshKosh B’gosh’s legal department, because the company sent YouTube a takedown request over claims that OshKosh B’gosh customers might watch the video and think it’s a real ad. Here’s the full complaint from OshKosh B’gosh:
Video is using trademark without the permission of the trademark owner and in a negative light. Trademark appears at the beginning and then video shows 2 women giving the middle finger to the audience. The women in the video appear to be under the influence of drugs by their demeanor and actions. Then our trademark appears again before the video ends. The name of the video contains our trademark, as well. This gives a negative image of our brand and associates our brand with the actions of the women in the video. Our customers would view this video as one that comes from us and it would be disasterous to our business and to our brand. Our customers are parents and grandparents who buy our clothes for babies and young children and such a video could make them believe that it comes from us and that we approve of the content. PLEASE NOTE I WAS UNABLE TO DOWNLOAD OUR REGISTRATIONS BUT THEY CAN BE RETRIEVED ON THE TRADEMARK OFFICE WEBSITE
As is the case with most takedown notices, Honig and Stonoha have 48 hours to “resolve their trademark disputes directly” with OshKosh B’gosh – is 48 hours enough time to explain to someone what a commercial parody is? Either way, I asked Honig and Stonoha if they’d like to make an official statement, and here’s their word on the matter:
“It’s not real it’s a joke.”
Watch the video for yourself below:
