Another day, another copyright infringement disaster. This time, Topshop has pulled a $700 leather jacket from its online store after complaints on social media that it used punk bands’ logos without permission
The jacket, emblazoned with logos from several punk bands, found its way toAgainst Me musician Laura Jane Grace, who tweeted at Topshop with an image of her band’s logo on the jacket’s sleeve. She told the retailer it was “not cool” that the trademark had been used without permission.
Topshop has now pulled the jacket from its site and is in the process of removing it from stores, telling Jane Grace it is “looking into this“.
While Jane Grace thanked Topshop for removing the item, others on Twitter weren’t sated by the move.
@LauraJaneGrace @Topshop Even leaving aside the trademark infringement, using a punk band to sell a $700 jacket is a fucking shitty move.
— John Lightbody (@janl78) September 17, 2016
@LauraJaneGrace @Topshop what “punk” has $700 to spend on a jacket?
— Andy Spoor (@andy_spoor) September 18, 2016
A cached version of the product page shows a leather biker jacket. Among those slogans is the logo of fellow punk band The Vandals, who criticized an image of the jacket in a U.K. store on its Facebook page. Its post received over 900 likes.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
Other bands featured on the jacket include New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls and the now defunct Choking Victim.
Topshop is the latest in a string of retailers accused of overstepping the mark on intellectual property.
Ad position: web_incontent_pos2
Last week plus-size retailer Lane Bryant was accused of pinching designs from New York Shantell Martin after it sold a t-shirt with her handwritten slogan “You Are You”. Lane Bryant has since pulled the item from all its online channels.
Meanwhile, Forever 21, Zara and Anthropologie have all been hit with similar claims.
More in Marketing
In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming
As marketers look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.
With the introduction of video ads and e-commerce, Roblox looks to attain platform status
Roblox is expanding into more areas than just ads in 2024. Much like platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have transcended their origins to evolve from their origins as online marketplaces and social media channels, Roblox is in the midst of a transformation into a platform for all elements of users’ virtual lives.
PepsiCo wants to remain a ‘driver of culture’ as it turns to influencers and activations amid rebrand
The soda-maker says it can translate cultural relevance into sales volume.
Ad position: web_bfu