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July 19, 2007
Jon Bon Jovi Wants Mijovi Brand Name Dead, Not Alive
Jon Bon Jovi is not happy at all about a new energy drink called Mijovi, a name that the drink's creator claims was inspired not by the famous rocker but by his girlfriend, Jovita Saenz.
The company's marketing materials include other words such as "itsmijovi" and "itsmilife" which look like fairly clear references to Bon Jovi's song "It's My Life."
So far the US Trademark office is supporting Mijovi, and while there is a great deal of law out there that protects trademarks that are considered famous, the argument that Bon Jovi sells songs and Mijovi is a drink in the log run will probably not hold, er, water.
People building piggyback brand names from famous stars is a daily headache for product naming experts.
Companies that attempt to trade off of someone else's equity, either a famous person's or famous brand, are low-life parasites.
I am sure that if she decides to pursue it, for instance, Gwen Stefani's suit against retail chain Forever 21, which seems to be marketing and promoting products that are the same as her Harajuku Lovers fashion brand name, will be successful.
Forever 21 has even gone so far as to copy the Harajuku Lovers logo and brand name by changing the word "Harajuku" to "Forever" and the word "Lovers" to "Love."
And Evel Knievel is jumping mad at Kanye West for ripping off his image and name in a video that features rapper "Evel Kanyevel" and a reenactment of Knievel's doomed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. Ouch.
In any event, energy drink naming is pretty crazy. Witness the advent of "Bloom," the new Del Monte Energy drink for women (one of the very few female orientated names out there, it seems, aside from Tab Energy and Go Girl Energy).
The newer Energy drink names look set to bring the meaning of the word "energy" closer to the word "hyper" (whoops, looks like there's already a drink called "Hype").
Technorati Tags: Mijovi, Jon Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani, Harajuku Lovers, Evel Knievel, Kanye West, Bloom, TabEnergy, Wired Citrus Punch, Go Girl Energy, Hype.
Posted by William Lozito at July 19, 2007 09:21 AM
Posted to Beverages
| Brand Naming
| Branding
| Company Naming
| Marketing
| Naming
| Naming Rights
| Product Naming
| Retail
| Trademarking
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