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April 30, 2009

Krispy Kreme's Use of Vo-Vo Naming not Fair Dinkum Down Under

For some reason the countries down under and North America seem to be at quarreling over branding and naming this week.

First there was the Eskimo Pie issue between Canada and New Zealand, and now Australia is upset with U.S. donut giant Krispy Kreme.

An Australian company called Arnott's has cried foul over Krispy Kreme's use of the trademarked "Vo-Vo" biscuit (cookie) name, which was originally registered in 1906. One variant of the Vo-Vo line is the Iced Vo-Vo, which is apparently an "iconic" piece of "Australian culinary heritage."

Krispy Kreme has meanwhile released the "Iced Dough-Vo" doughnut as part of its Australian inspired "Fair Dinkum" doughnut line (this is an Australian expression which means "fair enough" or "truly fair"). Arnott claims that its product, the Iced Vo-Vo, and Krispy Kreme's product, the Iced Dough-Vo, sound much too similar for it to be a simple coincidence.

The Australian head of Krispy Kreme attempted to justify Krispy Kreme's naming rights in a statement that is best reprinted in its entirety: "The word 'iced' is pretty well used, and the word 'dough' I don't think has got anything to do with what Arnott's do, and the word 'vo', I'm not sure what it means, but it goes well with 'dough.'"

Um, well, not really. The beloved Vo-Vo has legions of supporters in the blogosphere, from the one who has declared "No-No Not The Vo-Vo" to another Aussie who says he wanted to name his first born "Iced Vo-Vo."

Krispy Kreme Australia claims that these items are a "tribute" to the real thing. Tribute or not, a trademark is a trademark and one man's tribute is another man's infringement, which does not go a long way in conveying the"sincerest form of flattery."

However, this disagreement seems to be coming to the appropriate end, as a truce has been declared and the name is being removed from Kispy Kreme products.

Australia can expect a new name on May 11. Now that's Fair Dinkum, if you ask me.

Technorati Tags: Doughnut Naming, Iced Vo-Vo, Iced Dough-Vo, Krispy Kreme, Arnott, Fair Dinkum

Posted by William Lozito at April 30, 2009 8:09 AM
Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Food | Industry | Licensing | Linguistics | Naming | Naming Rights | Product Naming | Trademarking

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