Commemorative Cup?

My wife and I swung by an Arby’s last Friday. We ordered medium drinks with our other items. Without realizing it, we received two “commemorative” Vikings cups. These held way too much pop to drink, but that is beside the point. What I realize now is that these are probably by no means true Minnesota Vikings cups! We have been had.

Marketing your brand, or some other company’s brand to build incentive is fine. A marketing partnership for tie-in promotions is also a common thing. It builds relationships, good-will and can actually make more sales for both parties involved. But I wonder about the ethics of a company that makes a pseudo promotion to sell its products, and probably also to save on costs for such things as licensing fees, and so forth.

Here’s the goods, and you let me know if this is OK or not. Now I assume, Arby’s is promoting this commemorative sports cup for a larger sale. Buy a medium instead of a refillable small. There’s an extra buck in their pocket. The cup has the Vikings colors on it, or at least they’re close. It says “Vikings” on it. It shows football players in purple and white garb. OK so far.

I wonder about the ethics of a company that makes a pseudo promotion to sell its products.

While I was washing it, I took off my glasses and zoomed in for a closer look. It looks like the Minnesota Vikings logo for the most part. But I realize there is no registered trademark or copyright or anything like that. Now I thought the Minnesota Vikings should have that. And, as with any other National Football League team, aren’t they property of the NFL? No mention of the NFL on this cup either. No legal line that says anything about that. There’s a legal line for Arby’s, of course.

Also, what about the team name? Isn’t it officially Minnesota Vikings, not just Vikings? Looks like a loophole to me. Also, there is not anything on the pictured football players that can pin down exactly which team they are a part of. The helmets are set in such a way that you can’t make out any Minnesota Vikings horns. The quarterback does have a number 4 on his jersey, but no real likeness to Mr. Favre. I guess somewhere in this country there must be one high school or college football team called Vikings.

So, what is the value of this cup? If it was evaluated by real Minnesota Vikings or NFL memorabilia collectors, it would probably be deemed as worthless.

What also alarms me is that Arby’s is probably doing this in every state it does business that also has a football team. (Is there anyone from another state who can verify this?)

I know one thing useful for this “commemorative” cup: it does have a recycle symbol on it.