Comedian Changes Legal Name To 'Hugo Boss' In Battle Defending Small Businesses Against Giant Clothing Company
1) Great way for comedian Joe Lycett...er, pardon me - Comedian Hugo Boss - to promote the newest season of his TV show Got Your Back. Especially since his show relies on crowdsourcing to find companies who scam customers, have bad practices, and/or dole out horrible service.
2) What a fun, creative way to punch up at a massive company that has been punching down on the little guys from small businesses & charities that have 'boss' anywhere in their name.
One of the main businesses Mr. Boss has been defending in interviews is the UK's Boss Brewing Co., a small brewery near Swansea (about 200 miles West of London).
According to WalesOnline:
Fashion giant Hugo Boss has revealed the reason why it took on a small Welsh brewery over its name.
Boss Brewing, based in Swansea , was forced to shell out nearly £10,000 (nearly $13K) defending itself in a four-month legal battle against the clothing titan, which had a net income of €236 million (nearly $300M) in 2018.
It came after owners Sarah John and Roy Allkin were hit with a cease and desist letter by the brand after they applied to own the trademark of the brewery's name, a procedure which should usually cost £300.
After months of negotiations, it was resolved that the names of the brewery's award-winning beers, Boss Black, and Boss Boss, which is one of its highest selling products in supermarkets, would have to change. The brewery cannot sell clothing anymore either.
A spokeswoman for Hugo Boss has now explained that the move was to avoid "conflict and potential misunderstanding".
Boss Black will now become known as Boss Brewing Black, whilst Boss Boss will become Boss Bossy.
Ms John revealed how the brewery currently had pallets worth of Boss Black, which they would have to go through and change the labels of. They will also have to get rid of hats and t-shirts.
Does anyone at Hugo Boss really believe in good faith that consumers will confuse the beers of some small, lovely brewery in the UK with their Spring 2020 pastels collection because they both share the word 'boss'?
Thankfully the brewery hasn't been quiet about it.
…Boss Brewing has been fighting back against Hugo (clothing company, not comedian) the whole time despite the high costs. They've had several campaigns addressing it head-on, & last Fall were approved to keep & register their logo, and now they have a high profile UK celeb on their side.
And his Wikipedia page has already been updated so it's super official now.
And in a final note - I'm sharing this simply because I'd never heard it before and it made me say, "whoa":
The company [Hugo Boss] famously produced the SS uniforms for the Nazis during the Second World War using forced labourers, with its eponymous founder being a long-time Nazi Party member and supporter of Adolf Hitler.
In 2011, Boss issued a statement apologising for the "harm or hardship" at the factory run by them at the time.
Lycett, whose new name was trending on Twitter on Sunday, also tweeted: "Hugo Boss did not historically manufacture uniforms for the Nazis.
"Sorry, THIS Hugo Boss did not historically manufacture uniforms for the Nazis."
(And again, in case you're still confused… These are the statements of Hugo Boss, not of Hugo Boss. Righto.)