Jeep Trademark Advertisement

Jeep Trademark Advertisement, a photo by lee.ekstrom on Flickr.

Classic Jeep Trademark advertisement from 1973. It reads:

"Jeep® is spelled with an "R"

We started spelling it that way back in 1950 when we registered the Jeep® name with the U.S. Patent Office. From that moment on, Jeep® has been spelled with an R.

Other manufacturers make sport utility vehicles, but they are not Jeep® Vehicles. The fact of the matter is there is only one brand of vehicle that can rightfully and lawfully be called a Jeep® and this is a vehicle made by Jeep Corporation, a subsidiary of American Motors Corporation.

We earned our name the hard way; over the roughest roads and through a few bi wars so we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call anyone else by our name--it's a hell of a way to treat a veteran."

Schande auf Audi

2012 Audi A6 Avant "internal communication" on YouTube?
2011 Chrysler 200 ad from Super Bowl XLV.

No subtlety here. It's a total rip off. Guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Same riff, same imagery, same angles. Audi says the video is not an ad? Good luck in court.

UPDATE: Audi has gracefully admitted its error and settled with Detroit rapper, Eminem over the sound-alike track used in this Audi A6 Avant video. The offending track was created from an unauthorized sample of Eminem's Oscar award winning "Lose Yourself" song used in the Chrysler 200 commercial. One of the terms of the out-of-court agreement was that Audi would support specific Detroit-area charities.

Gang Signs in Advertising

Where do you draw the line with gang signs and advertising? You can find some kind of symbol in almost any advertising using a hand. Take the successful Jeep Patriot campaign - a woman playfully pinches a wolf and drops it into her friends canoe. One could say that the pinch sign (see # 8 below) is used by some obscure gang somewhere that doesn't really matter. Should that gang sign limit creativity and stifle the Jeep campaign with its pinch the wolf theme? Of course not.