Пост 58407480178
Thank you for your letter of March 25th, which has just reached me, doubtless because of the mail strike.
We note with sympathy your feeling that you have a proprietary interest in the phrase “It’s the real thing,” and I can fully understand that the public might be confused by our use of the expression, and mistake a book by a Harlem schoolteacher for a six-pack of Coca-Cola. Accordingly, we have instructed all our salesmen to notify bookstores that whenever a customer comes in and asks for a copy of Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher they should request the sales personnel to make sure that what the customer wants is the book, rather than a Coke. This, we think, should protect your interest and in no way harm ours.
We would certainly not want to dilute the distinctiveness of your trade slogan nor diminish its effectiveness as an advertising and merchandising tool, but it did occur to us that since the slogan is so closely identified with your product, those who read our ad may well tend to go out and buy a Coke rather than our book. We have discussed this problem in an executive committee meeting, and by a vote of seven to six decided that, even if this were the case, we would be happy to give Coke the residual benefit of our advertising.
Из ответа редактора Ричарда Сивера бренд-менеджеру Кока-Колы, когда те попытались вежливо заявить свои права на фразу “It’s the Real Thing”.
Сивер вполне изящно троллит Кока-Колу и подаёт всем нам пример. Кока-Кола после этого письма больше претензий не выражала и не возвращалась. Хотя сегодня, наверное, уже пошли бы по привычке в суд.