All Marlboro Decals being withdrawn

[Hiroboy]

Today I received a recorded letter from the lawyers representing Philip Morris USA demanding all products bearing the Marlboro trademark be withdrawn from sale.
Unfortunately I can afford/don't need the hastle fighting this etc.

I believe i'm not the only model shop who has recieved this letter.

[bigfrit]

Thanks for the heads-up.

Bunch of whine-ass pussies, those marlboro cowboys.

Just venting.

[CADguy]

Shouldn't they be going after the producers, and not the re-sellers?

Regardless, I just placed my order.

Thanks for the heads up Steve.

[tonioseven]

They should have no jurisdiction over you since you're based in the UK, am I correct?

[kingkai]

hehe, isn't Studio 27 plannin to release the McLaren F1 GTR Malboro...?

[freakray]

Originally Posted by tonioseven

They should have no jurisdiction over you since you're based in the UK, am I correct?

Incorrect, Philip Morris is an International company with offices in the UK.

[stevenoble]

Why do they do this? Do they object to their logo being used because of a copyright issue,or is it a money thing,where by if they were getting paid a large sum of money by the decal company then it would be fine for them to print the decals.At the end of the day you would think they would be happy for their logo to be used after all it's free advertising for them.

[Hiroboy]

Originally Posted by stevenoble

you would think they would be happy for their logo to be used after all it's free advertising for them.

That's what I would think, I also don't know which manufactures have permission and which don't so I have to remove them all sadly.

[Spike2933]

I wonder if Tameo will no longer get the tabacco decals, those Ferraris will look empty, cause I assume the Barcode is not allowed also

[jano11]

Originally Posted by Hiroboy

That's what I would think, I also don't know which manufactures have permission and which don't so I have to remove them all sadly.

It must be because of the anti tobaco laws. I suppose this is their problem, so probably no manufacturer will be allowed to make any Marlboro decals anymore.

[CifeNet]

When PM lost the big one, one of the agreements was not to advertise to steer up kids to smoke.

Thus, no Camel Joe, no cartoonized ads, no car magazine ads, and such...

The problem:
There are hungry lawyers with big eyes watching PM to violate one of these agreements so they can cash out fines.

Then why the Marlboro decals?

We understand scale models are NOT toys. We think of them as... an art... very finly detailed sculptures.

To them, scale modes = (equal to) toys = kids = smoke stickers = violation of the agreenment = fine = more money for "those" who are entitled to!

I also got the same letter several years ago for having a web site with Marlboro decal-ed F1 models. I was able to deal with them to make them go away by putting fine letters which lawyers would read on every web page of mine. The fine letters basically state that my models are a private property of an individual collector and that they are not intended to indorse any tabacco ads.

That settled for me and they went away.

But yes, I feel bad how things are tightening for the scale modelers...

[klutz_100]

1. It's the law and it's their right to protect themselves and their interests. Copyright is copyright and everyone is aware that infringing copyright is illegal - there's no point in acting surprised when someone stands up to protect their legal property. We all would if we were in the same position.

2. It's bloody annoying for scale modelers who are interested in realism - I fully understand that and feel it myself but....see point 1

3. They quite rightly assume that a strategy based on hitting retail/distribution in countries where they have a chance of successful legal action is going to be more fruitful than chasing producers around China where the word "copyright" isn't found in many dictionaries.

4. Let's be realistic. I don't for one minute suppose that nay Chinese manufacturers are feeling particularly worried about this at the moment. The only problem for them will be in finding distribution channels that are willing to stock their products - I suspect that internet sales and shipping directly from the PRC will be increasing in the near future - buy shares now!

5. I think Steve is 100% right and sensible to do what he is doing. I'd stop stocking them myself in the blink of an eye - it's not worth risking your whole business trying to defend the indefensible.

[white_R34]

I hope you don't mind me asking when did you get your Letter telling you about the pull on those products;for all the U.S. Companies Scale MotorSports, I have a lot of time on my hand If it's ok with you I can send letters asking if they had to pull those products. Now I wont tell thim I'm doing this Action on your behalf but I do have the time to do this, so we can save some of your products.
PS hope you don't hate the thread I did.

[rsxse240]

Why not have a "other decals" section that only a person who KNOWS what decals belong on a car, that being a collector, or historic modeller, can get them without actually SEEING the decal before it hits their mailbox. Don't label it as a Marlboro Ferarri F-1 decal set, but rather Ferarri F-1 sebring 1983 decal set, or something like that. Then make it only available to people of legal age (18 years+ in the US) and labeled as a historically correct collectors item. I know monogram gets away with this on their beer, Viagra, and various other "sponsored by adult products" models.

I think it was revell that used to produce the beer wagon (ed roth style custom truck) and had to change their mold to say ROOT beer or something gay like that. Then they popped out a few "COLLECTORS ONLY" "MUST BE 18 TO PURCHASE" BEER WAGON kits.

Tobacco and Alcohol sponsored sporting/motor sporting is a thing of the past. I mean it used to be NASCAR/WINSTON CUP till a few years ago. What about the busch grand nationals.

[drunken monkey]

I'm thinking that this is more a question of licensing rather than the advertising that is in question. I'm guessing that Malboro aren't getting a dime for those decals (infering that the decal producers don't have permission to use those logos) and as pointed out earlier, this is perfectly within their rights. It's just the way it is.