August « 2007 « Don Khuth Chronicles

Yesterday, I received an email from Rose at mondonation informing me that the mondonation logo has been copied. These days, there are a lot of copyright infringement going around and it seems like everyone is getting sued. This email arrived in my junk mailbox so I didn’t notice it for a while. Luckily, I checked my junk folder before it got deleted. After reading throw the email, I click on the link and read more on the story.

A while ago, I purchased a shirt from mondonation. At the time, they were a company that was trying out a new marketing idea. They sold shirts that contains your belief and used a portion of the earning to donate to the charity of your choice. I like their concept and purchased a couple of shirts from them. Every now and then I would go to their site and look through the picture gallery to see what other people believe in.

After reading an article from the Vancouver Sun and a blog entry from Young Go Getter I thought I’d do something about it. It wasn’t anything big but I wanted to do something. I went to Elizabeth Arden’s website and filled out a webform voicing my concern.

It has come to my attention that the new perfume “believe” is using a logo similar to that of mondonation (http://www.mondonation.com/). This company uses the profit of its sales to help charities and does not need their reputation tainted by the likes of Britney Spears. I’m and writing to voice my opinion on the matter and hope that you change your mind about the logo. I am a designer myself and I know how it feels like when someone copies your work.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

The two logos looks very similar but I don’t see any reason for them to be that close. The word “believe” is in a shade of green with the “i” in a different colour. The perfume’s slogan is “Believe” while mondonation’s slogan is “i believe” so there’s no reason for the perfume to have the “i” in a different colour. The concept just doesn’t fit. Take a look.

Yes, it is possible that by some strange coincident that the designer of the Britney Spears perfume could have come up with the same logo design but it’s too similar to be coincident. This looks like mondonation was ripped off. And yes, it does look like someone at Elizabeth Arden might be losing their job over this.

Here’s the response that I got back from them:

Dear Mr. Khuth,

Thank you for contacting Elizabeth Arden. We enjoy receiving your feedback.

At Elizabeth Arden we truly value your comments and suggestions. Your comments help us to develop new products and improve upon our existing product lines to better suit your needs. Your remarks regarding our Britney Spears Believe fragrance have been forwarded to the appropriate department for review and analysis. For more information on any of our products we invite you to visit us on the web at www.elizabetharden.com.

If you have additional questions or comments you may contact us at 800-326-7337. It will be our pleasure to assist you.

Regards,
Consumer Affairs

It doesn’t sound like much but it’s a response nonetheless. The response sounds more like an advertisement than anything. They’ve sent my comment to the corresponding person but as to whether or not they’ll do something about it, I don’t know.

As I was finishing up dinner the other night, I received a phone call from a friend. I’m one of his groomsmen so I thought he was calling to inform me of the tuxedo fitting date. We’re supposed to head over to Moore’s to be fitted for our tuxedos. We went a few months ago but one of the employee recommended that we get fitted about four to six weeks before the wedding. That’s what I assumed the call was about but it wasn’t.

Sao and Sokie are bride and groom to be. I was helping out with their Stag N’ Doe last week in St. Thomas. Sokie and I left from Hamilton but Sao was in New Market for a church meeting. The drive from Hamilton to St. Thomas is about two to three hours so I feel his pain when he had to drive from New Market to St. Thomas. That’s about a six hours drive, more or less depending on traffic.

When Sao called me, he asked me what street I lived on. I assumed he heard from his sister that I moved out. Not too many people know I moved out of my parentÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s house. I only told those whom I see often. Sao isn’t one that I see that much because he lives up the mountain. I rarely go up to visit him since he lives so far and I don’t always have a call.

I told Sao that I live on Burris Street and I thought that maybe he was going to tell me that he just passed by that street. The conversation we had over the phone was a bit surprising to me.

Me: Yeah, I’m over on Burris now.
Sao: You’re kidding me! I rented an apartment on Burris.
Me: Really, where abouts? I don’t know of any apartments on Burris.
Sao: It’s more like a house. I renting one of the floors.
Me: What’s the house number?
Sao: 92 Burris.
Me: What?! That’s like three doors down and across the street. When did you move in there?
Sao: I haven’t yet. I’m heading there now actually. We’re moving in some of our stuff.
Me: No way! That’s crazy!
Sao: Yeah, we’ll be there shortly.
Me: Alright. I’ll be outside to spot you.

A minute after I got off the phone, Sao drove by and parked at the bar. He and Sokie were stopping by to get the keys from the landlord and to move in some of their belongings. I’m assuming that they’re moving in at the end of the month. My girlfriend seemed a bit surprised about this too. It just seems that more and more of my friends are entering her world. I have a couple of friends who work with her, a cousin who’s dating a guy that was in a play that she stage managed and now a couple of friends living close by. In a way, it’s like she’s claustrophobic. Everyone likes some privacy but it’s like her privacy is being invaded. But it’s not like I can control any of it. Things happen whether I like it or not.

I welcomed Sao and Sokie into the neighbourhood. They were moving into the second floor of a nice looking house. I thought they were going to buy a house after their wedding. I heard from a few friends that their parents wanted to help them with a down payment but I guess that’s not going to happen anymore. I gave them a warning about the neighbourhood as well. First and foremost, parking in at the bar is bad because the old man will come out and yell at you. Apparently, it’s more important to him that people going to the bar to go drinking gets a parking spot. Of course that does make a lot of sense. I guess it’s a lot easier for the people who have been drinking to walk to their car if it’s closer to the bar.

It’s good that I have someone I know living close by. My girlfriend and I don’t know too many people on the street. She’s been living there for a while and hardly knows anyone. I’ve met with the guy that lives next door a couple of times. He saw me building the picnic table and asked if I wanted to borrow an electric saw. There are a few others that lives in that house but I haven’t met them yet. And now there’s Sao and Sokie. Looks like I might be throwing some more barbecue a lot sooner than I had expected.