Bad PR. Utah Cupcake Wars – Mini’s Files Suit
I have to comment on this bad PR move. Last night KSL – a TV station in Utah covered a lawsuit that was filed over – you got it – cupcake flavors. Mini’s Cupcakes in Salt Lake City is suing another cupcake store in Park City called LuAnn’s Cupcakes. Why? they say that the store copied their most famous cupcake.
Sounds like a cat fight.
Mini’s owner Leslie Fiet says, “She has several cupcakes that are completely different from my cupcakes, but this just happens to be our most popular and most distinctive cupcake that people associate with Mini’s.” Fiet’s cupcake is called “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and LuAnne’s is called “Tiffany’s Jewels.” I’m getting hungry writing this but I haven’t tried either.
In a lawsuit, Mini’s claims that LuAnn’s has “adopted a strategy and philosophy to intentionally and unlawfully trade off the goodwill that Mini’s has built by infringing Mini’s trade dress rights in the Breakfast at Tiffany’s cupcake.”
I commented on Mini’s Facebook Page that I thought the lawsuit was petty and a bad idea. Instead they could’ve said, we’re the original, here’s how the competition stacks up. Accuse them of stealing the idea if you want but let the people judge if they did a good job or not. Have people vote on who’s is the best and invite cupcake experts to vote. Hold an event, send out a press release. Talk about it on Facebook, invite their fans, invite the media. They could even let their fans make their version of the Tiffany cupcake and taste test each others. All of this gets people involved and exposes people to your name and cupcakes. You’d save the thousands you’re spending on attorneys and instead plow it into making a killer event and getting some great publicity from it.
Instead you’ve left a bad taste in our mouth. Enough that I’m writing about it.
I watched Rachel Ray judge the best Chicago hot dog on one of her episodes. They had a line of contestants who own restaurants that sell hot dogs. You should’ve seen the disappointment on some of faces on the guys who didn’t win. They were mad. I figure that hey, you got your hot dogs on national TV, who cares if you didn’t win, play it up. It’s publicity for you either way. The ones who didn’t get in are those who weren’t even in the contest.
It’s better to be sweet – especially if sweet is whatch ya selling. My impression of this brand now and the people who watched this on the news is that they are anything but sweet.
Here’s the video from KSL:
Video Courtesy of KSL.com
Related articles by Zemanta
- 2010 Saratoga Seen Cupcake Challenge (timesunion.com)
- Cupcake passion more than a trend (cnn.com)
4 Responses to “Bad PR. Utah Cupcake Wars – Mini’s Files Suit”
Leave a Reply
May 20th, 2010 at 10:44 am
I think your ideas are a much better approach to the situation. I’d say taking the high road is the best option 99% of the time!
May 20th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Agreed Janet.
May 24th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Lawsuits are rarely a good idea and I think that they are even worse for business copyright/trademark infringements. The only winners are ultimately the lawyers. Just look at Utah’s most famous lawsuit The SCO Group for a great example of why it shouldn’t be a business strategy.
Taking the higher road will always generate better results especially with consumers.
August 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 am
[...] of this reminds me of another sweet lawsuit involving cupcakes. Share and [...]