Confusing branding/advertising colours

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Oriphix

523 posts

Ultimate Geek

#115081 13-Mar-2013 11:19

This add had me confused. (saw it in the herald as a banner)

I thought this was a add for snap as the colours was so similar

I thought this was a add for Orcon again as the colour was so similar

But no it is adds for Telstra

The normal colour for them is blue and purple.

Ahh well made me go wait...what! Thought I would share :D

PaulBrislen

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#781001 13-Mar-2013 11:21

Cadbury sued Nestle once for using the colour purple... and won.

http://www.confectionerynews.com/Regulation-Safety/Cadbury-upholds-purple-reign-in-colour-trademark-row-with-Nestle

Colours are a key determinant in any brand so this kind of faffing about is generally frowned upon.

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Batman

Mad Scientist
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#781027 13-Mar-2013 11:46

some cyber browsing lawyers would pick this up any time now :)

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#781036 13-Mar-2013 11:52

Telstraclear have been using multiple colours for a long time. I don't understand it. No consistency IMO.

Telecom - Blue (used to be blue, green, yellow, grey)
2Degrees - Light Blue
Vodafone - Red
Orcon - Purple
Slingshot - Red and Black
Snap - Orange
Woosh - Green
Telstraclear - orange, purple, blue, yellow, red in varying shades. Very odd.

da5id

550 posts

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#781080 13-Mar-2013 13:29

Didn't the Yellow Pages copyright the colour yellow or something?
I seem to remember some dispute.

PaulBrislen

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#781081 13-Mar-2013 13:30

It certainly does and has defended it.

This isn't to say these companies "own" these colours, but if you set up a competing business (a directory listing, for example) you can't use that colour to sell the product.

Cadbury is purple, Yellow Pages is yellow and so on.

mattwnz

19388 posts

Uber Geek

#781084 13-Mar-2013 13:41

Don't you have to specifically trademark the colour though. Possibly the colour hex code or pantone number. Or is it automatically copyrighted? I didn't get any association with snap or orcon through those ad colours myself. Telstras colours have been quite confused for some time, although you could arguably say that they have been using orange for a lot longer than any other ISP as that was on their logo.

PaulBrislen

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#781087 13-Mar-2013 13:43

mattwnz: Don't you have to specifically trademark the colour though. Possibly the colour hex code or pantone number. Or is it automatically copyrighted? I didn't get any association with snap or orcon through those ad colours myself. Telstras colours have been quite confused for some time, although you could arguably say that they have been using orange for a lot longer than any other ISP as that was on their logo.

Certainly Cadbury fought on a particular colour code, but from memory Yellow argued just about the use of the colour yellow in advertising.

(TM)s and (R)s are important but if you've established a brand and are consistent with it for many years I think you'd have the weight on your side (I'm thinking about the Warehouse with its red sheds for example).

I'm no lawyer though... this is just observation over time. Happy to be proven wrong.

Handsomedan

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#781091 13-Mar-2013 13:51

Like Coke with their "dynamic ribbon"...red with a white twist through it - instantly identifiable as coke...

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NonprayingMantis

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#781095 13-Mar-2013 14:14

it's fairly subjective, but I beleive has to do with whether a colour is so strongly associated with a brand that to use the same colour in a competing business would be seen as an attempt to confuse customers into thinking that you are the same company.

so with cadbury they (successfully) argued that the purple colour is such a strong part of the cadbury brand that for a competitor to launch a chocolate bar using the same colour is a clear attempt to confuse customers into buying the competitor product mistaking it for cadbury.

I'd be surprised if any ISP was so strongly associated with a colour that they could argue for protection against other ISPs using that colour, with the possibly exception of Vodafone and the colour red, although that is more associated with them as a mobile provider rather than fixed ISP (notice slingshot uses red too)

BlueShift

1688 posts

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#781097 13-Mar-2013 14:17

They don't need to copyright or trademark a colour, although they often do when they can. But when they've been using a colour long enough that it can be proven to have a strong associatino with the company, then they can use 'passing off' defences against anyone in a similar field using the colour.
Therefore, Cadbury can accuse anyone using a close shade of purple to sell chocolate of deliberately resembling their product to confuse customers. Likewise Yellow won't let anyone else do a yellow directory. You could, however, use yellow chocolate packaging or a purple phonebook, and neither Yellow nor Cadbury would raise a peep. Much the same way that Tip Top icecream and Tip Top bread are two completely different outfits, but they don't compete in the same market. You could start up Tip Top women's clothing, and neither of them would complain.