While watching TV, I saw this add for the Perfect Pushup, an exercise device. They made the point that it was designed by a Navy SEAL and the the exercise chart was “Navy SEAL inspired”.
Wouldn’t the SEALs somehow disapprove of some particular using their name to vouch for the quality of some random product?
Different standards for different products? What if it were a juice or a set of lockpicks they were advertising?
IANANS – or a marketer for that matter, but I’m pretty sure that whether or not they objected, they probably couldn’t do anything about it because the ad doesn’t make any claims that it is endorsed by or has anything to do with the Navy SEALs other than that it was designed by one of its former members and/or that its design was inspired by Navy SEAL equipment. As far as I know there is no legal basis here on which a cease & desist order could be issued.
Given how angry ex-SEALs get at ‘wannabe SEALs’ who pretend to have been SEALs, I would guess that this would get them pretty angry.
Also, the SEAL Ethos on the official website makes a lot of statements about sacrificing personal identity to the greater cause, and includes the line “I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions” which seems to implicitly criticize the ad.
Alden Mills, founder of BodyRev and inventor of the Perfect Pushup device, has every right to talk about his training. SEAL isn’t a marketing trademark, it’s a Navy designation. Besides, what little independent opinion I’ve been able to find seems pretty positive – at least one old SEAL buddy sounds proud of him.
That’s fine that they all like him and his invention. Still it sounds like something that should be somehow regulated. Could a former Pepsi taste tester launch a line of juices and say “invented by a Pepsi taster”?
What if another SEAL invents the Molest-o-matic 3000 and advertises it as “invented by a SEAL”?
“I went from being a manatee to a seal in only 30 days using this machine!”
Now that that’s out of my system: it’s trademarks. The US government doesn’t own a trademark to SEAL. I imagine, though, the the Perfect Pushup company could claim a service- or trademark to the “designed by a Navy SEAL” tagline. The use of a trademark for promotion, though, would expose you to nasty letters or lawsuits. There’s a big difference between saying, “Designed by an ex-McDonald’s employee!” as a tagline, service mark, motto, etc., and casually mentioning in a press release or news story that “Balthisar, a former McDonald’s employee did such and such.” In the latter case, you’re mentioning a fact as part of a biography or to provide additional background; in the former case you’re using someone else’s trademark notoriously for a commercial advantage.
Yes, this is one of those areas of intellectual property rights where it would seem rather anal to try to trademark/copyright a statement of fact or of opinion just to prevent some commercial enterprise from wrpping itself in the flag. The JAG Corps has better things to do than serving C & Ds on folks trying to associate their product with the military mystique, as long as they do not claim actual sponsorship or endorsement, and do not make outright lies about the service. And once the person is out of the service, I don’t know how enforceable it could be to have SEALs sign an “Honor Code” that they’ll never profit from their status.