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Clothing Company Apologizes To Don Henley For Invoking His Name To Sell Shirts

The ad in question.

Don Henley will not take it easy when there’s a product being sold that references both his name and career with The Eagles, and now everyone knows: After filing a lawsuit against a Wisconsin clothing company that emailed an ad telling customers to “don a henley and take it easy” last October, the two sides have settled the case, with the company issuing an apology to both Henley and his fans for trying to be too clever.

Duluth Trading Co. and Henley settled their dispute this week, with the clothing company issuing a long apology on its website for using the musician’s fame to peddle clothing without asking him first (h/t AdAge).

Henley had accused Duluth of exploiting his name and connection to The Eagles’ hit song, saying customers might think he had endorsed the shirt.

The company admits “we pushed the advertising envelope too far” and said it’s “deeply regretful,” apologizing not only to Henley “but to anyone else who took offense.”

“Both Mr. Henley and the Eagles have worked hard for more than 40 years and pride themselves on the fact that they have never allowed their names, likenesses or music – individually or as a group – to be used to sell products, ” said a spokesman for Mr. Henley and the Eagles, in an email. “One would hope that these corporations will finally learn that U.S. law forbids trading on the name of a celebrity without permission.”

Duluth is also making a monetary donation to Henley’s non-profit organization Walden Wood Project, which aims to preserve the works of Henry David Thoreau.

The full letter from Duluth Trading Co.:

To our customers, friends, and Don Henley:

As many of you know, Duluth prides itself on not taking itself too seriously and this culture is often seen in our advertising, which we try and keep fresh, interesting, and funny. Unfortunately, we pushed the advertising envelope too far and distributed an advertisement promoting our line of Henley shirts that invoked American recording artist Don Henley’s name without his permission.

Mr. Henley has long been an advocate of artists’ rights and he brought his objections to our attention. We appreciate and respect what Mr. Henley has meant to music and we now see that our use of his name and an Eagles’ song title in our advertisement was inappropriate. For that we are deeply regretful and we apologize, not just to Mr. Henley, but to anyone else who took offense. We have learned a valuable lesson and thank Mr. Henley for helping us appreciate the importance that he and other artists place in their publicity rights.

We have, at Mr. Henley’s request, also made a monetary payment to be directed to the Walden Woods Project, in recognition of the 25th Anniversary of its founding, to resolve this matter.

Thank you.

Very truly yours,

DULUTH TRADING COMPANY

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

GM Won’t Face Ignition Defect Lawsuits, Thanks To 2009 Bankruptcy

(frankieleon)

The same process that allowed a bankrupt General Motors to work its way back (with the help of several billion dollars from taxpayers) to being a viable business is, six years later, helping to shield the company from potentially billions of dollars in damages from class action fraud lawsuits involving the long-ignored ignition defect that claimed the lives of at least 84 people.

As we’ve mentioned before, as part of GM’s 2009 bankruptcy restructuring, the “New GM” that resulted was absolved of most of the liabilities of “Old GM.”

The particular question before the court was whether GM would have to answer ignition-related allegations of fraud, like the $10 billion class action for brand damage.

Central to this issue is the recall timeline. GM didn’t issue a recall for the affected vehicles until 2014, but the defective ignition switches — which could be turned off by the driver bumping a knee into the switch or from the weight of a heavy keychain — had been quietly redesigned before the bankruptcy restructuring. No cars made after the bankruptcy included the defective switches.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuits against GM contend that because some executives at the carmaker knew about the problem for years without issuing a recall, that an alleged cover-up continued into the New GM era.

GM disagreed, arguing that there was no cover-up and that the cars and defective parts were both sold by Old GM. The company maintains that as soon as senior management learned of the problem, the company began the recall process.

And today a federal bankruptcy court judge sided with the carmaker.

In a statement, GM said that the judge “properly concluded that claims based on Old GM’s conduct are barred.”

The court did allow that ignition-related lawsuits could be brought against New GM, but they would have be based solely on post-bankruptcy actions of the carmaker.

“This ruling padlocks the courthouse doors,” one of the attorneys suing GM said in a statement. “Hundreds of victims and their families will go to bed tonight forever deprived of justice. GM, bathing in billions may now turn its back on the dead and injured, worry free.”

Through its own victim compensation fund, GM is paying out an estimated $400 million to victims and their loved ones. As of the latest report from GM, the car company has acknowledged and made payment offers for 84 death and 157 serious injury claims. If a claimant accepts the payment offer from GM, they give up their right to pursue the company in court for the same incident.

[via CNN Money]

[via WSJ]

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Showrooming: todo lo que debes saber #infografia #infographic #marketing

Hola:

Una infografía sobre el Showrooming: todo lo que debes saber. Vía

Un saludo

Showrooming: todo lo que debes saber

Archivado en: Infografía, Marketing on line, Sociedad de la información Tagged: Infografía, internet, Marketing, tic

from TICs y Formación http://ift.tt/1GLWPDd

via Alfredo Vela Posteado por www.bscformacion.com

Showrooming: todo lo que debes saber #infografia #infographic #marketing

Hola: Una infografía sobre el Showrooming: todo lo que debes saber. Vía Un saludo

TICs y Formación http://ift.tt/1H98xGB Via Alfredo Vela y www.bscformacion.com

Sears Pension Fund Requires Cash Infusions From Sears

searsflag Sears really didn’t need any more problems, financial or otherwise. Yet the company does have a problem that doesn’t involve its loss of $1.7 billion last year, run-down stores, fleeing customers, and alleged problems with suppliers? The company’s employee pension plan also isn’t doing very well, which has been another drain on the company’s finances.

Sears wouldn’t tell the Wall Street Journal exactly what it has invested its pension fund in that has led to such poor returns, but last year the fund posted a return of 1.5%. Those aren’t very good results during a year when a fund with middling performance earned about 7% last year.

The company has added $2.85 billion to the pension fund during the last decade. For a company like Sears, that isn’t a lot of money year to year, but it’s also $2 billion that they aren’t spending on things that could improve the company’s financial future.

Employees who have been at Sears or Kmart before 2006 are part of the pension plan, so it is still receiving contributions. (Sears and Kmart merged to form Sears Holdings Corporation in 2005.) A company spokesman explained to the WSJ that the company is still meeting its pension obligations. Better performance of its investments in future years may help the plan to keep making payments to retirees for as long as they live.

Poor Returns Weigh on Sears Pension Plan [Wall Street Journal]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist