Continue to Site

Could i get sued for this slogan?

J

jokergerm

New member
I saw a slogan that was directed at the Big guys in the pizza world and i wanted to use it on my mailers and door hangers

it says " We never changed our recipe because our pizza never sucked"

Could any of the coperate guys with money do anything about this? or is it vauge enough to keep me in the clear
 
Last edited:
You can be sued for anything. But you would win the suit. There is no copyright/trademark infringement because you are not using their name, likeness, or slogan. The only thing you are concerned about is defamation. However, your statement that “Dominoes Sucks” is not meant to be and could not be construed as a factual statement. It is clearly an opinion that cannot be subject to factual analysis. I’d say you are safe.

HOWEVER, while I love your spirit, others may not. Additionally, it does make people think you are competing with crappy pizzas when you are probably trying to differentiate yourself.

I have slogans on my shirt aimed at two local competitors (both of whom have a quality product). One is called “Waldo Pizza” and my shirts say “Where’s Waldo? Who Cares.”. The other place is called “Spin! Pizza” and our shirt says “Spin! This”. Neither say anything derogatory per se, but they take a dead aim at the places I want to topple. However, I have had one or more people take it the wrong way. I made the conscious decision not to recognize the cardboard pizza companies on my shirt even though there were some great slogans.
 
Last edited:
The fact that Anthony’s in Denver used this slogan on a billboard, you may want to consider that there might be some copyright infringement attached to your use of it. If your market were to become aware that you stole a slogan word for word from another shop, it may make you look pretty bad.
 
Last edited:
The greater question is why would you do that?

People like variety. People eat at different pizza businesses, not just one all the time. People drink different drinks, use different spices, eat at different fast food places and even use different toilet paper sometimes. Telling them that they are idiots for choosing to eat somewhere else just because you think your pizza is better isn’t a brilliant marketing concept.

It sounds childish, but if you live in a place where everyone is 12 years old, it might get some laughs from 10% of them who even understand who or what you’re referring to. I doubt it will get you more customers.
 
Last edited:
48.png
jokergerm:
" We never changed our recipe because our pizza never sucked"
Click to expand...
I would avoid it like the plague. Books like “The Secret” and “Think and grow Rich” are very successful for a reason. Basically whatever you see repeated times goes into your memory, but the subconscious can’t distinguish the negative there. (Think money and sex here, if you don’t have either, it is all you think about) By blasting that tag line, you are adding change and sucked to your customer’s memory of your shop.

I know it sounds hokey, but do you really want to count on your customers to make that distinction and remember that you are the place that never changed? Or do you want them to associate your name with change?
 
Last edited:
You should create a positive image in your marketing. The slogan I have used for several years is “Just like you remember”.

Maybe you could use “Our pizza will never change. It’s great already.”
 
Last edited:
I won’t disagree with the idea of a positive message if that’s your/your restaurant’s personality. However, I do not think a negative messages are the antichrist. Remember, politicians use negative imagery because they are effective. Waldo pizza in KC, whom I mentioned before, has the slogan “Corporate Pizza Sucks”. It contributes to their edginess and fits their image perfectly. I think it does more good than harm for their demographic. I’ve seen “life is too short to eat bad pizza” somewhere (sorry, can’t remember where) and it certainly didn’t make me associate “bad” with their pizza.

Will negative imagery put some people off? Yes. In fact, if your slogan was “our pizzas is good”, it would probably put somebody off. But you can’t please everybody. Those who eat dominoes may be offended. Those who don’t, will feel like their part of your in-crowd. You may lose some potential customers but you may gain faithfulness among others. A little risk taking in your image CAN payoff. Be careful, but also be yourself.

These other guys on the board have been doing this a lot longer than I, but I do feel that your differentiation from the big chains should not end at your product. Your business’s image can certainly come across a little more raw than theirs.

But then, you may take my advice and end up bankrupt, so who knows 😃
 
Last edited:
I would say stay away since it was used word for word by another and that could get interesting in itself. I would be more worried about something else. All the people of the world that will read the word “SUCKED” and have a mild heart attack over you writing swear words in your ads. My mother is one of those who would read it, refuse to eat there, and go tell her 100 closest friends about the bad things you are writing all over that the children are reading. Yeah… I know… she drives me crazy too… I get yelled at a minimum of once a day for saying something offensive! :roll:
 
I dont know about some of you guys but I have a PH in my town and I really dont even consider them as competition. The 2 indys are more of a concern to me. Im not sure if I can say this without someone getting mad at me but I feel if you really need to attack those guys on that level then maybe you should look at your recipe and consider change. If your pizza is good enough the people will come.
 
Last edited:
Ok back to the drawing board

What about “Let the Dominoes fall” Spell it like the game not the pizza company
 
Last edited:
48.png
jokergerm:
Ok back to the drawing board

What about “Let the Dominoes fall” Spell it like the game not the pizza company
Click to expand...
Clever but I might look at an add that has the name dominoes in it and think hey let call dominos for pizza. I guess it depends on how you market it.
 
Last edited:
48.png
jokergerm:
Ok back to the drawing board

What about “Let the Dominoes fall” Spell it like the game not the pizza company
Click to expand...
WE DON’T PLAY GAMES WITH YOUR PIZZA

This could have an interesting side connotation with the YouTube video that was out a while back.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top