Seems kind of shady to me. They say imitation is a form of flattery, but I think to make it almost exactly like his design is kind of a slap in the face.
not to bad mouth johnny but didnt he do the same thing with the jordan logo? also im new to this so how would one go about doing something like that dont you need permission from the company or are there special guidelines. because i know he changed the logo alot but one can still tell that hes mocking the jordan logo.
Problem is Billabong is such a multi national company people if they saw the shirts saw for instance here in the UK (where not many people heard of johnny)would presume it was the other way around and Johnny had taken their design.
Really naughty of them, and i always thought Billabong was cool.......well not anymore.
Just out of interest does anyone know how many shirts Mr cupcakes produces in his "limited runs" ? As he sells alot of shirts so wondered if he has a high turnover of designs or larger printing runs of shirts?
not to bad mouth johnny but didnt he do the same thing with the jordan logo? also im new to this so how would one go about doing something like that dont you need permission from the company or are there special guidelines. because i know he changed the logo alot but one can still tell that hes mocking the jordan logo.
And the celtics and many many more in the past...His whole brand was taking from others...I like johnny but he does push that holyier then thou attitude...I don't know why he wouldn't let the lawyers deal with it and leave it out of his blog...That to me isn't professional...
Even single night you turn on the T.V. you see an infomercial with a product that looks like something you have already seen...But with there twist...
My guess is Johnny truly just loves the attention...Other wise, why in the world would he himself be doing his own twists on other brands...
The only thing that is similar about the Air Johnny design and the Air Jordan design is the color of the man and the typography (not the color though). The red man is a completely different character, facing in a different direction with a cupcake vice a basketball in his hand.
The billabong design is almost exactly the same. Same colors, teeth look identical. (Can't tell if there are 8 teeth on the top or not). Design is on the exact same tooth. Typography and the tooth design are the only thing that have been changed.
This is a tough situation. I think Johnny has changed the Air Johnny design enough to make it a non-issue. It's obvious that billabong hasn't.
not to bad mouth johnny but didnt he do the same thing with the jordan logo? also im new to this so how would one go about doing something like that dont you need permission from the company or are there special guidelines. because i know he changed the logo alot but one can still tell that hes mocking the jordan logo.
I'm not a lawyer and I'm not saying it's right, but I think Johnny is relying on "parody" for his "mocking" designs like the Air Jordan. He mentioned this in the live chat. IE. There's little chance you'll think his cupcake design is an actual Jordan t-shirt.
But the other companies aren't doing a "parody" or even an "homage", they are just taking his cupcake idea and passing it off as their own.
I'm not saying it's right, but that's probably where the difference
I'm not a fan of parody work, myself. But there is definitely a difference between something that everyone knows is parody, and just stealing someone's design.
I'm curious to see if he takes this as far as he took the instance with Urban Outfitters.
dont get me wrong i understand what you guys are saying. what im saying is that if youre gonna copy people dont get mad when it happens to you. i mean seriously you mean to tell me that johnny couldnt come up with his own styles?
but instead he decided to use an already great idea that works and switch a couple things around put a cupcake on it and call it his own. I mean lets be honest if you were the rightful owner of the air jordan logo and the celtics logo you would be upset at johnny cupcakes.
Billabong prolly did it to teach him a lesson.... who knows...
what about the urban outfitters wat was that about can someone fill me in???
Last edited by mtmob; January 11th, 2008 at 04:36 PM.
but instead he decided to use an already great idea that works and switch a couple things around put a cupcake on it and call it his own. I mean lets be honest if you were the rightful owner of the air jordan logo and the celtics logo you would be upset at johnny cupcakes.
I think you may be missing the point.
People don't buy a cupcake guy doing a tomahawk dunk because they like Nike shoes, they do it because they like Johnny Cupcakes.
People are buying those parodies because of the Johnny Cupcake brand, not because of the parodied brand.
Johnny Cupcake has come up with a lot of his own styles. The whole cupcake theme is his style.
The difference with the Billabong is that Billabong isn't doing a parody of Johnny Cupcakes. It appears they basically saw his design and copied it to make it seem like it's their own.
Again, I'm not saying Johnny is right here. I'm just trying to point out the differences in what's happening.
I understand you completely Rodney. Especially about the parody part. Dont get me wrong im not hating on johnny either i applaud his success and wish him much more. with all this said and done i hope johnny has money to take billa bong to court if not i guess you can consider this a lost case.....i wish him luck
Johnny Cupcakes vs. Billabong? 
