Subway vs. Budway – Brand Wars Part 2

Not so clever anymore!

The other day I wrote an article called “War of the Brands” talking about the cannabis brands that mimic the colors, fonts and essentially products of the popular candy brands.

“Doobie Snakes!” look incredibly similar to the “Scoobie Snacks”! or explicit imitations like “Cap’n Crunk” and “Cannaburts” are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these copycat brands.

Funny though – I warned of grave legal ramifications for those found guilty of trademark infringement – and it seems that a pharmacy that thought “Budway” was a clever pun on the popular sandwich “Subway”. – figured out these multi-billion dollar brands don’t FUCK!

If you were previously afraid of the black market – you don’t know how ruthless American companies can be!

Budway figured out the hardway!

For those brands that ignored my warning, here is a recent example of a trademark infringement that resulted in a judge on the side of the sandwich giant Subway.

The judge [Justice Nicholas McHaffie] ordered the Budway owner to pay $ 40,000 to the chain this week and destroy all signs, merchandise, packaging and labels bearing the not-so-prominent cannabis pharmacy logo.

While there was no evidence that the tiny company actually participated in Subway’s $ 1.8 billion annual Cdn sales in the country, McHaffie found that Budway had effectively tried to build Subway’s reputation for selling its Using products – so this cbc article.

“In either case, the word element of the mark is similar, the letter and pronunciation similarities between SUBWAY and BUDWAY being evident,” wrote McHaffie.

“The fact that ‘Budway’ is not a word itself means that it tends to be read to connote the common word ‘subway’.”

The judge in question has ruled against some brands of cannabis that have tiptoeed to the call of similar brands – “Herbs R Us,” which was a direct rip-off from Toys R Us.

Right now, most of these trademark violations are happening in Canada, and since the Canadian Tradesmark Act is doing brands a huge favor – it is a reminder that cannabis brands need to stand out from the market – and not mimicked.

Building a brand is better

Some people may argue, “Subway was not hurt by Budway” and when you look at Subway sales you are 100% right.

Brands exist for a reason, however, and while you may not be deducting from Subway’s profit margins, you are tapping into their research and development.

You see, Subway invests billions annually to stay relevant in the minds of the masses. Every commercial, every social media post, every YouTube video that shows the brand contributes to the collective “image” of Subway.

So when people see the letters from Subway, they immediately recognize the brand as “familiar”.

It took years, if not decades, to gain this familiarity with the brand – and when a pharmacy or other store or store took advantage of it;

You are tapping into this psychological source of “familiar marketing”. Suddenly “Budway” feels like you’ve always been there – and that’s where the problem lies.

Budway has never asked permission for this privilege and as such, corporate monsters like Subway will easily file a lawsuit against the pharmacy because they will easily win the case.

Why not make $ 40,000 just because some people thought it would be fun to make a pharmacy similar to an established brand name.

Are you defending these big brands?

The problem here isn’t whether I believe in the big brands or not – I believe in a brand’s integrity, and they have the right to protect that integrity at all costs.

Even if it is a single pharmacy that brings the “essence of their brand” to the market. These brands, who have invested billions in strengthening their names, have every right to protect their investments.

Plus, there’s so much cannabis history to use that it’s pretty lazy marketing to siphon off the good names of popular brands.

I may not like what many of these brands represent as a whole – but I think it’s good to have some kind of protection from copycats when you take the time to build a brand from the ground up.

Otherwise, you will spend the time, effort, and investment making a big name for yourself only so that someone else will reap the benefits.

What should cannabis brands focus on?

As mentioned earlier, cannabis culture is full of lore. We have so many aspects to use in our marketing, it’s really easy to build a cannabis brand.

The problem is that they are different from other brands of cannabis. There are only so many brand-a-leaf companies out there before shit becomes redundant.

That’s why I wrote last week about what brands like Monogram and Pokebud are doing – they create overlap between the product and their target audience.

Right now it’s not so much about selling weed, but more about selling weed to a specific customer. For example, instead of trying to capture the entire market, you could be chasing fitness enthusiasts who ALSO use cannabis.

Now suddenly – the marketing potential is significantly increased and you can hone your perfect buyer.

Cannafit, MariMuscles etc – if you have the right goal, you no longer have to rip off other big brands.

So for now, just focus on “which overlapping demographics” best fit your brand – and then use those demographics to drive your marketing design forward.

Cannabis has left the basement and is now mainstream – it’s time you looked at your marketing in the same light.

MAINSTREAM TRADEMARKS FOR CANNABIS, READ MORE ..

BIG CANDY GOES TO MARIJUANA COMPANIES FOR IP RIGHTS!

OR..

CANNABIS BRAND PIRACY, WHAT CAN BRANDS DO TO PROTECT YOUR NAME?