After Getting Slapped Down Over Implied Alfonso Ribeiro Endorsement, Roca Labs Tries With Tommy Chong
from the is-it-real? dept
The Roca Labs saga continues. As you may recall, the company is suing PissedConsumer and a former customer while threatening lawsuits against many others (including us). Part of the issue is that it makes customers agree never to say anything negative about the company in exchange for a "discount."There was a somewhat odd side story a week and a half ago, in which Roca tried to use a statement it had posted to PissedConsumer (and to its own website) about actor Alfonso Ribeiro in what was clearly implied to be an endorsement. Except that Ribeiro's lawyers stepped in and made it clear Ribeiro had never endorsed the product and they demanded that all such uses be taken down. As his lawyers noted:
Ribeiro unequivocally is not, has never been and has no intention of ever becoming a paid spokesperson of the Product [Roca Labs]. Furthermore, Ribeiro has never personally used the Product and in no manner whatsoever endorses the Product.As I said at the time, I'm not sure the unfair competition or copyright infringement claims would fly, but a falsely implied endorsement is exactly what publicity rights laws were designed to deal with. Pretty quickly, the page about Ribeiro disappeared from Roca's site.
The unauthorized Review and deceitful use of Ribeiro's name, image, likeness and falsely attributed quotes violates California Civil Code Section 3344, invades Ribeiro's common law rights of privacy and publicity, amounts to unfair competition, is an unfair business practices, and constitutes copyright infringement, among other causes of action.
One of our readers, jonr pointed out that it appears the photos of Ribeiro actually came from a Dancing With the Stars "backstage gifting suite" in which the participants in the show are photographed with various sponsor products. Given the smackdown from Ribeiro's lawyers, you might think that Roca would be careful about still using his image in any sort of implied endorsement. And yet, Roca has put up an entire page with photographs from the event and what appears to be implied endorsements. The page says "the stars are impressed with Roca Labs." And the first star at the top of the page is Ribeiro, which is interesting, given his lawyers earlier claims.
There's also some photos with Tommy Chong. And just a little while ago, Roca Labs posted on Facebook what certainly looks like yet another implied endorsement from Tommy Chong. Sure, it doesn't directly say he endorses it. It just says "Tommy Chong holds the Roca Labs" products, but that would appear to imply an endorsement.
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Filed Under: alfonso ribeiro, california, implied endorsement, publicity rights, tommy chong
Companies: roca labs
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Tommy Chong's disgraceful railroading
Although he had nothing to do with his adult son's business, Chong's Bongs, Tommy still got roped in, as his (family) name, and apparently some pictures of him, appeared on his son's website.
Maybe this was the DEA's long-awaited revenge for Tommy Chong's embrace of the drug culture and his mocking of law enforcement's "war on drugs" but looking at the facts in the case, he never broke any laws and should have never gone to jail. He only agreed to a plea bargain to have charges dropped against his son, a deal which made prosecutors happy because a celebrity like Tommy Chong was the big fish they could mount on their wall.
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Re: Tommy Chong's disgraceful railroading
Whether such a crime is punishable by a prison sentence is another discussion - and I believe you are correct that they used this case as an example with a high profile target. In the grand scheme of things, I suspect it only backfired on law enforcement... very few people think Tommy should have gone to prison for this "crime", and those who did are mostly right wing crazy assholes.
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Disclaimer?
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Disclaimer II
Roca Labs® is not endorsed by Dancing With The Stars, ABC, BBC, or the Disney Co.or the individuals contestants, judges or performers appearing on Dancing With The Stars. Dancing With The Stars, ABC, BBC, and Disney are all registered trademarks of their respective owners. All trademarks on this web site whether registered or not, are the property of their respective owners. Dancers and celebrities on Dancing with the Stars had a special opportunity to meet with successful users of Roca Labs’ Gastric Bypass NO Surgery® who lost 100 lb on average. The dancers and stars were amazed with the weight loss results, but are not in any way official endorsers of Roca Labs®. Images are courtesy of ABC and the Disney Company. Images should not imply product endorsement or use of Roca Labs products by celebrities pictured in images. *Results are not typical. Results can and will vary.
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Re: Disclaimer II
Didn't the FTC crack down on that and prohibit weight loss companies from using testimonials of atypical users to falsely suggest efficacy? I mean, I'm *sure* that Roca Labs would never think of deliberately flaunting rules, so I'm sure they'll fix their marketing ASAP.
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Are the images photoshopped?
https://www.google.com/search?q=%27Dancing+with+the+Stars%27+Season+19+Backstage+Gifting+ Suite
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Probably tastes the same and just as effective.
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Layers of BS
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