Comments on The Zen of Funny: The Bad Commercial

Years ago a friend and I put on back to back solo ...

2008-07-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Years ago a friend and I put on back to back solo shows. We named our project, Spirituality for Dummies. About two weeks into the run, we received a letter from a lawyer informing us that we could not use that name. The For Dummies people does not want people to think they are associated with us in any ways. I spoke with a friend and lawyer and said we could fight. No company owns the phrase, for dummies and we were not claiming any connection. But, we were small and broke and they were big and scary. We had to print up new inserts to the show bill telling everyone we had nothing to do with the For Dummies people. I asked the lawyer how they heard about us. She turned out to be very human about the whole situation too. She said that was her job. She reviewed internet searches and anything else brought to her attention by a staff. When you are a multi national company, you can afford to have a team making sure no one comes close to your products name. The internet has become more not less like the wild west. I think she Googles the name from time to time and my blog popped up. The crazy thing is how serious we all take this stuff=)

Nah, I'm sure Martha is a regular reader. That's ...

2008-07-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Nah, I'm sure Martha is a regular reader. That's awesome. I think you may be onto something with the corporate name-dropping Joe.

I bet it is someones job to Google the company nam...

2008-07-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

I bet it is someones job to Google the company name and see what pop's up from time to time. They are defending their commercial and trade mark. I get it. Course, the commercial Okin does have, the one with the giant bugs trying to sneak into your home, is pretty dumb too.

Goddamn, there are people who take your blogs more...

2008-07-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Goddamn, there are people who take your blogs more seriously than I do...

I stand corrected.

2008-07-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

I stand corrected.

Love the Yellowbook commercial. The bug commercia...

2008-07-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

Love the Yellowbook commercial. The bug commercial is actually Terminex not Orkin. Orkin has those great big bug commercials where the termite is driving away in a low rider.

Hello. I'm the Assistant Vice President of Public...

2008-07-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hello. I'm the Assistant Vice President of Public Relations and Corporate Communications for Orkin, and I need to point out an error in your post. The pest control commercial you cite - showing a cockroach surviving the end of the world - is actually a Terminix ad. The Orkin commercials show giant bugs delivering pizzas and driving cars...we went for the friendlier, more realistic approach.
Martha Craft
AVP, Public Relations & Corporate Communications
Orkin, Inc.

Hello. I'm the Assistant Vice President of Public...

2008-07-21T06:04:00.000-07:00