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It was a simple world back when - you either had P. F. Flyers or Keds, Lees or Levis, and you rode either a J. C. Higgins, Schwinn, or an 'English' bike, as well as joined in the Lionel vs American Flyer rivalry. It was Ford vs. Chevy, and foreign cars were driven by wierdos, intellectuals and 'well-traveled' people. Someone's Dad was always smarter, stronger, or more whatever, than someone elses. It was about the Dodgers vs the Giants or all about the Yankees. Your selection of one brand over the other said legions about your self image, your family's stature within the community, and just how hip you might be. Then along came an alligator to decorate your shirt, and suddenly all other shirts didn't quite cut it in the status conscious world crafted by Madison Ave. Athletes got paid big buck endorsements to place their names on the flanks of athletic shoes, until they decided to buy the companies, take them off-shore to sweat shops, and make obscene money off of celebrity-brand crazed American youth. Before long, designer labels were plastered all over most clothing articles, including the Hanes undershorts I'm wearing as I type this. Did it start w/ gelatin deserts being called Jello, facial tissues commonly all called Kleenex, or was it all refrigerators being once just 'fridges (for Fridgedare), and all vacuum cleaners were 'hoovers? Uninformed non-car people once referred to all foreign sports cars as MGs, because MG was a recognizable brand name larger than its product. All these corporate labels, slogans, and logos have an intrinsic value that are a component of a corporation's overall worth. As is "good will" considered an asset on a corporate financial ledger. Money grubbers realized that the path to financial stardom could be shortened considerably by ripping off a successful competitor's product image - their style, logos, labels, and even their very names. A form of identity theft but more severe, because one equates a certain level of performance, quality, or reliability with a recognizable brand's goods and services. Not only does it rip off that company, it rips off the consumer who got duped into buying a fake - a knockoff. Then the lawyers are called in - to recover lost monies, to protect and to preserve the brand's identity, to seek out and destroy all known nasties threatening a company's reputation, image, or marketability. The law firm hired by a corporation is chartered with winning for the client at all costs, even if the results appear irrational and unfair. If they've gone too far, the public relations gurus are then waltzed across the stage to make things right. It's akin to standing up and saying excuse me after cutting a stinky beer fart during High Mass, as opposed to blaming it on your Mom sitting next to you. . . Total insanity ! JetRock stated it well, and unfortunately we live in a world not like the one he wishes for, but this is reality, like it or not. For transportation giants like UP to impose a licensing fee onto a manufacturer of model trains for the extended privilege of depicting the UP corporate paint scheme and logo is no different than any other corporation doing that on other products. And many of them do. However, the flip side of that suddenly illustrates how absurd all of this is, for in the world of auto racing and many sports venues, corporations pay humongous money to teams to display their corporation's names on their race cars, or sponsor sporting events, instead of being paid for the privilege of using that corporation's name. I have always wondered why manufacturers wouldn't welcome the increased exposure of their corporate name by it being displayed on toys, hobby items, and the like. It's apparantly about the precedent being set for allowing it to be used, and that is fine and controllable through licensing agreements. The rationality of it falls apart when those same companies charge for that exposure, and then spend millions to advertise their company in all sorts of international media. Go figure.
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