Bogus Brands
10-20-1993
^Brand-Name Pirates: They're Not the Real Thing
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ American fast-food franchises proliferate in this city nestled high in the Andes. You can grab a bite at a Pizza Hut, a Dunkin Donuts or a Whopper King.
Whopper King?
You read that right. Not Burger King, the "Home of the Whopper" that Americans are familiar with, but Whopper King, a counterfeit knockoff.
In Bogota and many other cities around the world, businesses frequently use variations of U.S. brands or duplicate them letter for letter.
In the sleek shopping districts of Bogota's wealthy northern section, there are Benny's ice cream parlors - looking just like Ben & Jerry's of Waterbury, Vt.
Benny's has the same lettering and dairy cow motif as Ben & Jerry's and sells Cherry Garcia, a top Ben & Jerry's brand. But instead of rich cherry ice cream and chunks of chocolate and cherries, Benny's version is a bland mix of artificial-tasting ice cream and candied cherries.
In Bogota's Zona Rosa, a casino, bar and restaurant district, Colombians wearing pre-faded jeans and tennis shoes crowd into Friday's, which serves burgers, beer and other fare under a red-and-white awning. Except for the chatter in Spanish, the scene could be a TGI Friday's in New York or Washington.
Consumers don't seem to care that they're not buying or patronizing the real thing.
Advertising is helping to create a homogeneous and bland consumer society - one which encourages people to seek status symbols at the expense of quality, a Colombian sociologist says.
"Many people can't afford Nike sneakers, for example," said Myriam Henao of the Universidad del Valle in Bogota. "So companies make copies and sell them cheaper - and acquiring that label becomes more important than having the quality of the genuine item, or of another item."
Joseph Finnin, executive director of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, has little respect for brand-name pirates.
"Somebody took the time, designed a logo, put it on the market and spent years building the company's prestige, and for someone to come along and copy it ..." Finnin said, shaking his head.
None of the owners of counterfeit businesses contacted in Bogota was willing to speak on the record. One, however, defended his action, saying that taking the name of another firm was a form of tribute to that company.
Jerry Greenfield, one of the founders of Ben & Jerry's, laughed when a reporter told him there was a copycat chain here, saying he'd be surprised if the Cherry Garcia reference - a play on the name of rock singer Jerry Garcia - would be understood in Colombia.
But Greenfield said he would rather do without the honor of being copied. After building Ben & Jerry's into an international firm with outlets in Russia and Israel over a period of 15 years, "Our name, our concept and our brand are that much more important to us," Greenfield said in a telephone interview.
Unlike counterfeiters who sell cheap copies of Rolex watches and Chanel scarves on street corners in various cities, the owners of bogus U.S. eateries can't run when the authorities come.
Among other examples of name-grabbing across the globe:
-In Israel, McDavid's hamburgers fended off a legal challenge from McDonald's years ago, largely because the American chain did not operate in Israel. But McDonald's opened its first franchise in Israel this month, setting up another possible legal fight.
-In London, variations of Kentucky Fried Chicken abound: Kennesy Fried Chicken, Louisiana Fried Chicken, Ohio Fried Chicken - all having similar red- and-white signs.
^Brand-Name Pirates: They're Not the Real Thing
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) _ American fast-food franchises proliferate in this city nestled high in the Andes. You can grab a bite at a Pizza Hut, a Dunkin Donuts or a Whopper King.
Whopper King?
You read that right. Not Burger King, the "Home of the Whopper" that Americans are familiar with, but Whopper King, a counterfeit knockoff.
In Bogota and many other cities around the world, businesses frequently use variations of U.S. brands or duplicate them letter for letter.
In the sleek shopping districts of Bogota's wealthy northern section, there are Benny's ice cream parlors - looking just like Ben & Jerry's of Waterbury, Vt.
Benny's has the same lettering and dairy cow motif as Ben & Jerry's and sells Cherry Garcia, a top Ben & Jerry's brand. But instead of rich cherry ice cream and chunks of chocolate and cherries, Benny's version is a bland mix of artificial-tasting ice cream and candied cherries.
In Bogota's Zona Rosa, a casino, bar and restaurant district, Colombians wearing pre-faded jeans and tennis shoes crowd into Friday's, which serves burgers, beer and other fare under a red-and-white awning. Except for the chatter in Spanish, the scene could be a TGI Friday's in New York or Washington.
Consumers don't seem to care that they're not buying or patronizing the real thing.
Advertising is helping to create a homogeneous and bland consumer society - one which encourages people to seek status symbols at the expense of quality, a Colombian sociologist says.
"Many people can't afford Nike sneakers, for example," said Myriam Henao of the Universidad del Valle in Bogota. "So companies make copies and sell them cheaper - and acquiring that label becomes more important than having the quality of the genuine item, or of another item."
Joseph Finnin, executive director of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce, has little respect for brand-name pirates.
"Somebody took the time, designed a logo, put it on the market and spent years building the company's prestige, and for someone to come along and copy it ..." Finnin said, shaking his head.
None of the owners of counterfeit businesses contacted in Bogota was willing to speak on the record. One, however, defended his action, saying that taking the name of another firm was a form of tribute to that company.
Jerry Greenfield, one of the founders of Ben & Jerry's, laughed when a reporter told him there was a copycat chain here, saying he'd be surprised if the Cherry Garcia reference - a play on the name of rock singer Jerry Garcia - would be understood in Colombia.
But Greenfield said he would rather do without the honor of being copied. After building Ben & Jerry's into an international firm with outlets in Russia and Israel over a period of 15 years, "Our name, our concept and our brand are that much more important to us," Greenfield said in a telephone interview.
Unlike counterfeiters who sell cheap copies of Rolex watches and Chanel scarves on street corners in various cities, the owners of bogus U.S. eateries can't run when the authorities come.
Among other examples of name-grabbing across the globe:
-In Israel, McDavid's hamburgers fended off a legal challenge from McDonald's years ago, largely because the American chain did not operate in Israel. But McDonald's opened its first franchise in Israel this month, setting up another possible legal fight.
-In London, variations of Kentucky Fried Chicken abound: Kennesy Fried Chicken, Louisiana Fried Chicken, Ohio Fried Chicken - all having similar red- and-white signs.
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