#TellHallmark

Here is the crux of our concern.  We content that “Hallmark Tell Them” is confusingly similar to “Teazled Tell Them.”  We don’t think it has to look exactly the same but as a marketing message it is too confusing.  And, we believe that it dilutes the value of our tagline.  Of course, Hallmark doesn’t agree.

David N. Johns, Assistant General Counsel responded to our letter on February 22.  In his letter he asserted that, “Our advertising tagline or slogan is LIFE IS A SPECIAL OCCASION, not TELL THEM.”  He went on to say, “…we see no potential in our ads (including the Facebook page) for consumers to think that those are promoting products from Teazled, much less any likelihood of such confusion.”

If that is the case Mr. Johns, how do you explain this:

And if you want to see it for yourself, you have to go to http://www.facebook.com/tellthem  What do you find if you go to http://www.facebook.com/lifeisaspecialoccasion – nada, ziltch.

Then, let’s take a look at our logo next to the avatar Hallmark is using on this Facebook page.

We admit, our company’s name is bigger than the words Tell Them while the reverse in true in Hallmark’s case.  But, as you can see – they seem pretty similar to us.  “Greeting Card Company Name” AND the words “Tell Them.” So, to reiterate – this is confusing and dilutes the value of our trademark.

If Hallmark isn’t using “Tell Them” as part of their marketing campaign why do all the bloggers who supported the launch think they do?

If you Google ‘tell them greeting cards’ your results will look something like this – depending where you are.

The first arrow points to Hallmarks meta description for their page and the second arrow indicates one of the bloggers Hallmark most likely engaged to promote their campaign.  You can see that blog post here.  And, if you check out this blog the headline is pretty striking.  You can click on the image to view the blog yourself.

It appears this blogger is pretty well convinced that Hallmark is currently engaged in a “Tell Them Campaign.”  If you go through the pages of results you’ll find many more similar examples.

And, perhaps most telling of all is Ramsey Mohsen’s page the guy who helped lead the social app development for the campaign.

If you’d like to read his article you’ll have to navigate to http://ramseymohsen.com/2012/02/new-project-launched-hallmark-tellthem-facebook-involver-app/  But, if the name of the campaign was “Life is a Special Occasion” don’t you think they guy running the social app side of it would call it that?

We have been using “Tell Them” as a marketing tagline since we started our business in March 2011.  Here are a few examples:

Tell Them™ on our website

Tell Them™ In Local News Coverage

Tell Them™ in our catalog

Tell Them™ in local advertising

That’s how we see the facts, Hallmark sees it differently.  Again, if we understand their opinion correctly – Teazled isn’t famous enough to claim dilution of our brand/trademark.  It may be that as a small and relatively new company we have no right to our logo and trademarks.  Could that be true?

UPDATE: Letters to Hallmark from Teazled on February 28, 2012 and March 8, 2012 continued to ask that Hallmark cease and desist the utilization of TELL THEM in relation to International Class 016: Postcards and greeting cards.

So, that’s it for today.  Just the facts.

Take a look at the evidence and tell us what you think.

If you agree we’d appreciate your help.

How you can help:

In the age of social media you can help David beat Goliath by taking action now and staying involved as we #TellHallmark! Do one or all of the following:

1. Hit one or all of the share buttons below to Tweet this post, share it on Facebook, Google+, or any of the other social networks
2. Subscribe to this blog in the upper right hand corner to get updates on our progress and learn other ways you can help
3. Follow Teazled on Twitter and Facebook to receive updates through those channels
4. Post “#TellHallmark It Seems Confusingly Similar to Us” on Hallmark’s Facebook page!
5. Encourage your family, friends, coworkers, and colleagues to join us and #TellHallmark today, and tomorrow, and as long as it takes
6. Visit teazled.com and buy a greeting card for someone you love. They are lovingly crafted and ever so affordable.
7. Let us know in the comment section what you think. Let your voice be heard!

How you can help:

In the age of social media you can help David beat Goliath by taking action now and staying involved as we #TellHallmark! Do one or all of the following:

Continue reading “Teazled Greeting Cards Needs Your Help #TellHallmark” »

Has Goliath Hallmark Trampled on Teazled Trademark?

When Dina Proto and Dina Poist-Proto launched Teazled, a small greeting card company in March 2011; they knew there would be many long days and a lot of hard work ahead of them.  But never in their wildest dreams did they expect to have their trademark show up in industry giant Hallmark marketing campaign less than a year after opening their doors.

Teazled is a niche greeting card company that serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community. Americans buy 7 billion greeting cards every year.  Nine out of 10 U.S. households buy greeting cards, with the average household purchasing 30 individual cards in a year.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 8.8 million Americans share a same-sex household, so Teazled is filling an overwhelming vacancy for the LGBT community by providing the opportunity to create a lasting impression and emotional bond that companies like Hallmark do not.

Continue reading “#TellHallmark Trademark Infringement is NOT a Warm Greeting!” »