The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

September 26, 2017 | 3 min read

Brands are increasingly using music videos to communicate their ethos, the trend has evolved to the extent that Velcro has used it to protect the integrity of its registered trademark.

Much like hoover, tannoy, post-it, sellotape, Rubix cube, the Velcro brand has become synonymous with the product but via the medium of song and dance, Velcro states that the general term for the invention is hoop and loop. In short, Velcro does not want what it perceives to be inferior hoop and loops to tarnish its brand.

The upbeat piano number, clocking in at over two minutes, starts: “We’re a company that’s so successful, that everywhere you go, you see the scratchy, hairy fasterener and you say, Hey that’s Velcro’.

But even though we invented this stuff, our patent lapsed forty years ago, now no matter who else makes it, you still wanna call it Velcro.

“You think it is awesome for us, we’re famous but we’re lawyers and its causing us grief, because there are trademark laws being broken, it’s all here in this short legal brief.”

The song continues in similar manner.

A full-on microsite from digital agency Walk West condemns the use of Velcro as a noun or a verb. A statement reads: “We know. You don't mean to be a serial verber, but we decided to clear a few things up about using the VELCRO® trademark correctly – because we're lawyers and that's what we do. When you use "velcro" as a noun or a verb (e.g., velcro shoes), you diminish the importance of our brand and us lawyers would lose our *insert unfastening sound.*”

At the end, Velcro urges consumers to take a stand, offering them the chance to join it’s mailing list and help update trademark guidelines.

Other brands that have tapped into music in a unique way include Tuborg, Sprite, Bacardi, Asos, Rimmel London, the North Face and McCann's creative director AI.

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