So much of trademark use in merchandising depends on a legal fiction that is quite absurd. That is, that the licensed names and images serve a trademark source-identifying function, rather than merely being decoration.
For instance, the Green Bay Packers logo is protectible as a trademark on a shirt because consumers could think, “I trust the Green Bay Packers as a quality source of shirts.” Likewise, “I trust ‘Finding Nemo’ as a quality source of children’s swim diapers.”
In particular, the use of cartoon characters on children’s sundries is particularly absurd. Do parents choose a Lightning McQueen toothbrush because they trust the Lightning McQueen brand? Or because they are afraid of a crying fit if they do anything else?
But the other day it occurred to me that there is one merchandise licensing deal that is so long-standing, so invested with its own meaning and consumer expectations, that it truly constitutes a proper trademark without the legal fiction. It’s Flintstones vitamins.
I grew up eating Flintstones chewables, and the other day, in Target, picking up some vitamins for my three year old, I chose Flintstones brand simply because I trusted the brand.
Believe me, I didn’t choose it because my son is into the Flintstones.
It’s funny, because when I was a kid, the Flintstones actually had some cachet. But I don’t think my son has any idea who Fred Flintstone is. Well, actually, I can just ask him.
“Joe, do you know who Fred Flintstone is?”
A few seconds pass, then Joe answers, “I’m playing with bubbles in my bathtub, Daddy.”
Well, there you go.
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