Johnny Cupcakes threatens legal actions for use of his logo on sorority t-shirts
 

This just happened on my campus, and I thought it was interesting with today's array of themed t-shirts. Thoughts?

This is from Johnny Cupcakes blog
http://www.johnnycupcakes.com/blog/view/1608

And this is the article from the Syracuse University student newspaper
http://media.www.dailyorange.com/med...-3680351.shtml

I understand fully why he would be upset, but the manner in which he handled it I found to be unprofessional, pretentious, and even a little immature.

There was no need to refer to the Delta Gamma ladies as "a friggin' crappy sorority," nor was there any need to subject them to public humiliation.

Not suprised, people should not be violating patent law. This also happen when I was active, it was when Calvin and Hobbes was big.

Absolutely.

Plus, his product is ugly.

I wonder if the artist he highlighted in his blog has cleared his use of the Boston Celtics trademarked graphics.

I know I'm not really "hip" or whatever, but seriously - should I know who this guy is? Is it a West Coast thing? :confused:

I was thinking the same thing.

I think the logo is cute, but I agree that the way he went about it was immature. I wonder if he knows what defamation is. I'm sure this incident has had a negative affect on the Delta Gammas on that campus.

On the aspect of trademark infringement, come on girls. Everyone knows you don't use a flat out exact logo of something trademarked. One year we did Tiffany And Co. shirts for Bid Day. Obviously the color had to be off because Tiffany blue is trademarked. You have to be really careful. We don't like when people use our letters (perps, non-members). How are you going to go and do that to a for-profit company?

I'm glad it's not just me. I'd never heard of him or his clothes until this thread.

Me neither...and I'm too far removed from the college crowd.

i tend to agree it was a shitty way to address the issue, but i know this isn't the first or last time a sorority or fraternity will use trademarked logos or designs for their own purposes. maybe if people got called on this crap more often they'd stop doing it.

Wow - that guy's an asshole.

He's also been in other lawsuits claiming other t-shirt companies are stealing his ideas. I think he likes to stir things up.

Who is he?

No not really. He just opened his LA store within the past year. But his "cult" following is usually in New England, specifically Boston.

I own a couple of his things, but he definitely didn't handle the situation appropriately. I'm disappointed.

Don't worry about it, just another fad t-shirt label that will most likely disappear into irrelevance the way of von dutch.

I'm from an hour outside Boston and have never heard of this guy. He's just a flash in the pan. Sure, DG screwed up - but honestly, every single sorority has shirts that make use of some company's logo. This whole thing is just a way for him to drum up publicity for his t-shirts, which honestly look like they belong on 13-year-old girls. His blog entry was immature and arrogant, and he really has no right to be so full of himself since hardly anyone here knows who he is. He should be ashamed of trying to humiliate the DGs - if he really had an issue with their shirts he should have handled it in a far more professional manner. Instead, he saw an opportunity to try to boost his brand at the expense of others. At least we can rest assured that Delta Gamma as an organization is far more respectable, well-known and enduring than whoever this guy is. In 10 years, which are people going to care about more: Delta Gamma or "Johnny Cupcakes"?

Count me in too. This is the first i've ever heard of Johnny Cupcakes. He should be happy, if nothing else I know who he is now. Although I'd never wear it and will definitely not support him after hearing about his rude comments.

So I wonder if Nike gave him permission to use the Air Jordan looking logo on the t-shirt he sells? Did Pez give him permission to do the Pez container themed shirt?

All of his shirts are just fug.

I live in Boston, and he's pretty big here, metro (west) areas, and on the Cape where his "headquarters" and I believe his first store are. It helps that is Boston store is on Newbury street.

Oy....some quotes from his blog:
" I must of read these emails when I was going to sleep..."

"But someone at the lecture must of leaked information! "

LOL- I guess I must OF missed that when I read it. Seriously, he just needed to speak to the girls privately and not be so little of a man to feel the need to publicly embarrass a bunch of young people.

If he was particularly annoyed, he could have (or could OF, lol) had an attorney send them a letter ordering them to stop using his logo. However, he didn't need to march over to the sorority house with a mob. What a jackass!

Never heard of him.


.....Kelly :)

I'm in New England (albeit not in Boston) and this thread was the first I'd heard of this guy.

Agreed.

The boy needs to stop getting his knickers in a twist. A cease-and-desist letter might have been in order. But leading a mob over to the Delta Gamma house, as a first response? Unprofessional and immature.

Besides, the shirts are fugly.

This story is from Syracuse, NY. Why would anyone think it was a "West coast thing"? I've never heard of the guy.

I'm glad I'm not the only who thought this.

This guy is someone whose clothes will never be on the backs of MY children, that's who he is.

Never heard of the guy.

I'd never heard of him before this post. But now that I've heard of him, I've learned 2 things:
1. He's kind of an ass.
2. His clothes are really, really ugly.

I've never even heard of him until I saw this thread.

His stuff's just as viral as Ed Hardy, and anyone who wears either should be shot.

I've never heard of him either.....and I am in the college crowd.

It looks like he's trying to appeal to the "hipster"/skater crowd. They think sororities are super lame because they're anti-conformity. Anti-conformity is a big theme for some of them but then they all look the same... funny, that. I agree that in 10 years nobody will remember this guy, but Delta Gamma will be just as strong as ever. Arrogant, immature jackass.

this guy seemed like a totall jackass. I know its illegal but i for one would be kind of flattered if someone had a logo of my (fictional) company. It shows the word is getting around and its pretty much free advertisement. He could of handled it way better than he did.

On a side note i remember this semester one fraternity had the Ralph Lauren polo logo on the back of their bid day shirts. Im wondering how common is that (because i think i remember hearing other chapters using it) and if anyone has gotten busted for it.

I'm honestly wondering if maybe he did call his lawyer, and his lawyer told him this wasn't a big enough deal to sue or anything over, and that's why he acted like such an ass. I mean, I'm not exactly all caught up on my copyright law, but if the DG's weren't making any money off the t shirts, isn't there really no harm done? I'm an artist, and I understand the big deal over intellectual property, but it seems to me if they arn't profiting he should just be glad people think he's a big enough deal to parody on a t shirt.

So does that seem excessive to anyone else?

Sounds like grounds for upped security to me.

i definitely think that he's way into his money more than what people think of him as an actual person. i think his logo is cute, but he really was immature about it. And from what i heard his speech was wrong. by calling the delta gamma's a "friggin' crappy sorority" ? please. like he was the best thing in college? why even bash a sorority you don't even know? i get that he was mad about the logo thing, but...jeez. be a little bit less immature.

According to his website, he only went to college "for a few weeks" anyway.

Why someone wanted a shirt with a large cupcake on it I will never know. Was it advertising a bake sale? Like what was the point of that design on a DG shirt. Also I hate when guys have little man complex and seemed like the president of the little man society. He needs to calm down.

that really explains alot! haha. he's a total jerk.