Saturday, August 14, 2010

He Who has the Dough Makes the Rules

You may have read about the bakery in Salt Lake City called "My Dough Girl" who was bullied by Pillsbury into changing its name on the grounds that "My Dough Girl" sounded too much like their trademarked "Dough Boy." 
I could understand a problem if the bakery's logo or advertisements resembled Pillsbury's mascot (they don't), or if they sold similar items at the supermarket (they don't).
Yes, I get that it's in the best interest of a company to protect  trademarks.  Had the bakery been called "Doughboy" or "Pop 'n' Fresh," I'd be on Pillsbury's side.  But "My Dough Girl?"    Sheesh.

4 comments:

Linda Davick said...

So weirdo. I'm hoping that Pillsbury offered them a wad of dough to redo all their material. (Surrrrrrrrrre.)

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Hi Linda,
I think what annoys me most about the story is that the bakery owner more or less had to agree to a name change because she didn't have the time (or the deep pockets) to fight a lawsuit and run the bakery at the same time. Not a fair fight.

It doesn't help that The Pillsbury Doughboy is a remarkably annoying mascot. That voice! That "hoo hoo" laugh! Can somebody please smack him with a rolling pin?

stray said...

I keep trying to figure out the name My Dough GIrl, but they have pin-up girls on the site, so maybe it's referring to the images the soldier "doughboys" liked?

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Hi stay,
Yes, I think that's what "My Dough Girl" refers to. I think it's pretty far removed from the Pillsbury character.