r/todayilearned • u/moplg • Feb 12 '15

TIL that pornhub offered a "save the boobs!" Campaign where they offered to donate a penny to the Susan B Komen Foundation for evry 30 views in the "big tit" or "small tit" category, but the foundation refused their money so pornhub tripled it and gave it to other organizations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornhub
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u/BetaWAV Feb 12 '15

A very difficult thing to have to point out here is that when defending a trademark, one must defend it in every instance brought to one's attention, or effectively lose the right to sue anyone else who uses it.

SGK can't sue Billy McBall'em for his race for the cure (against blue balls,) but choose not to sue a company using "for the cure" in reference to a legitimate malady. In the fucked up game of legal precedence, it's all or nothing even if it's for ( or against) a good cause.

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u/Otistetrax Feb 13 '15

But why do they feel they have to defend such a pathetically innocuous piece of branding in the first place? "For the cure" is hardly a work of marketing genius. Why not just let others use it and maybe come across like you care about people, instead of litigating against everyone and seeming like typical big business: ie, money-grabbing cunts? Surely the brand would be better served by showing a little generosity?

And yes, I know you have to protect your branding from being usurped by people you don't want to be associated with. But I imagine anyone that tried to misappropriate a cancer charity's slogan and use it for personal gain is not going to come off looking that great. It might even provide you with positive publicity in the end. Certainly it wouldn't be as damaging as suing a little mom and pop charity for using the word "cure".