Friday, October 1, 2010

Who is Susan B Komen, and What Does She Have to do With the HOUSEWIVES?

There may be a Susan "B" Komen, but if she has a foundation that sells pink-ribbon bracelets, I bet that the Susan "G" Komen For the Cure® people are not very happy with her!
I found the Susan "B" bracelet, for sale on CANDICE LAURITA'S website, http://www.dazzlecandy.com/Candy-That-Cares-c4/  .  Does everyone in that family have a name that begins-with "C"? (Caroline, Claudine, (<--Dina), Chris, Candice...)
CANDICE is DINA & CAROLINE MANZO'S niece, and should be entitled to her privacy, I agree, except for the fact that she has made her family relationship public, and has even promoted the fact on her site by offering, "Housewives" jewelry. 
Not only that, but the way that I found her site in the first place, was because she frequently #TWEETS to CAROLINE MANZO, and those #TWEETS have a direct link to her online store . So she's obviously hoping that her association with THE HOUSEWIVES will be good for her business.
http://twitter.com/dazzlecandy
Her bracelets have also been featured on housewifestyle.com. HOUSEWIFE STYLE is one of my favorite websites, even-if it is a little tricky to get the hang of how to read it. The person who runs that site is amazingly diligent in finding items that we've seen worn by THE HOUSEWIVES, and telling us where we can find them. She has photos and info.that I haven't seen anywhere else.
When I first clicked-in to DAZZLE CANDY, my first opinion was that $300. was too high of a price for me for beads, ($75 for children's), even though the bracelets are nice. I continued browsing the site to see if  I could find something more affordable, and the pink-ribbon, "Susan" bracelet was only forty-dollars.
And that's when I realized that Ms. LAURITA , may have made a mistake.
She did. No biggee, her heart is in the right place I'm sure, just like AUNTIE DINA'S, but there are problems with using the registered trademark name of a company, even-if that company is a charitable organization.
What does Susan G Komen For the Cure say about it?
Susan G. Komen for the Cure is very protective of its trademarks and service marks and has registered such marks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and/or claims common law rights in these marks. All use of these marks must be with Susan G. Komen for the Cure's permission. -Susan G. Komen for the Cure®
Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has actually had very big problems reigning-in and defending it's tradmarks.
In the past, KOMEN, has been criticized for defending it's legal property, because contributors didn't like the idea of money that they had donated for breast-cancer research, going to lawyers. But they are entitled to profit from the use of their valuable name , and they, like any other major organization, have strict rules about who they establish a partnership with. They do not currently have a partnership with DAZZLE CANDY, and DAZZLE is NOT authorized at this time to use their name, or registered trademark. 
I'll have to assume that she hasn't sold many of the counterfeit bracelets yet, because I would hope that she at least notices her spelling mistake, when she writes that check to the Susan "B" Komen...
CANDICE is not the first, or only person to assume that she does not need permission to use the KOMEN brand-name. EBAY, ESTY, & others all have policies & have implemented ways to make charitable donations through crafts. 
Maybe someone should start a fund to send the kind-hearted MANZOS to a boot-camp or seminar, "How to fund-raise without getting into trouble."?
By the way, here's a link for authorized, "official", Susan "G" Komen for the cure merchandise:  
http://www.shopkomen.com/  there are some darling  PINK items there, and you can be sure that its legit.