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Like Magic, Merlin Gets C&D From CBS Over "Fresh" Name

Oh, what a clever little disguise for, and a cute little defense of a ripped off service mark. Nothing original there, just trying to figure a way around the mindless laziness and chicanery associated with said rip off.
 
So much for thinking CBS "isn't going to fight" Merlin's use of the word "Fresh"... Of course, I wonder if CBS would react the same way, had Merlin been using the word "Fresh," say, after August 1 - but I suppose Merlin may not have even tweaked "Fresh" at that point, who knows...
 
Silkie said:
Oh, what a clever little disguise for, and a cute little defense of a ripped off service mark. Nothing original there, just trying to figure a way around the mindless laziness and chicanery associated with said rip off.
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Geez, relax... they're having some fun at CBS Radio's expense. It's an old-fashioned radio war, and Merlin is just playing with CBS, who reacted to the mere rumors of News/Talk on 101.1 by making plans to blow up one of their stations. They've already said that they don't plan to name 101.1 "Fresh" and it looks doubtful that the station will continue full-time with whatever they're doing now.
 
Silkie said:
Oh, what a clever little disguise for, and a cute little defense of a ripped off service mark. Nothing original there, just trying to figure a way around the mindless laziness and chicanery associated with said rip off.
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They never IDed the station as "Fresh" but simply used the word as an adjective... and got exactly what they wanted... a stiff response from the competitor which they turned into a major publicity coup through their response.

Or do you think that CBS' service mark means that they can sue every time a character on a TV show says, "I need some fresh air..." or similar. Rhetorical question, thus no question mark.

It¿s also a nice way for CBS to tell its employees that they are really worried about the new competition.
 
Of course, had Merlin really wanted to use the "F" word, they might have done what B101 in Philadelphia did a few years ago, when they started incorporating the "F" word in their delivery:

"... the station had already been using the "fresh" word in some billboard, TV and other marketing for some months, and then discovered that the trademark was already owned. So they're licensing "Fresh" from MRH Marketing..."

FWIW, I don't recall any sniping to B101's (independent) owner from CBS, which owns several stations in the Philadelphia market...
 
RickSchmidt said:
Now that is hilarious. Just when I thought the industry had gotten too stiff, I saw that Radio Ink piece and fell over.
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And that best part was it was "signed" by the "Merlin Marlin Mascot", along with a smiley face in magic marker!

That's Randy Michaels for you! As long as he doesn't name the station with that word that rhymes with "smell" like he did 20 years ago here, then we should be okay. ;D
 
BRNout said:
DToTheJ said:
What in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks are you talking about, Pete? ::)
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Hell 94.7.
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Or proof that "The Power Pig" only works once and never works on a station that's in good shape to begin with, as B96 was in 1991. When all you have to attack is one morning guy's father, the other morning guy's alleged OFF-THE-AIR sexual preferences, the afternoon guy's balding pate and the relatively lousy billing (when everyone knows that CHRs don't bill like other formats), there's not much to blow B96 out of the water--and Randy painfully learned that.
 
Terry Gross has hosted the show “Fresh Air” for much longer than CBS has called stations “Fresh”. So perhaps NPR should be suing CBS.
 
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