Superman Through the Ages! Forum

I come across them quite regularly, ads that blatantly rip-off the big guy. I almost don't notice them because it is such common practice they barely register. I wonder how often and how determinedly DC pursues firms that are using their product (ie. Superman) without permission? It would be a never-ending and worldwide battle. Do they even bother...?

Feel free to post actual examples as and when they crop up. I'd be interested to see them.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/superstaff.jpg)

DC's lawyers have just bookmarked this thread ;)

It happens a whole lot.

Here is a super blatant rip-off:

http://www.totalsuccess.com/images/poster-superhero__.jpg

The French steakhouse chain Hippopotamus used to have a hippo in a Superman costume among their decor; I don't know for certain that they still exist. In North London, where I live, I have seen two evident infringements of copyright, one for a laundry and one for a handyman. I'll see if I can get some pictures.

By the way, Super Monkey, is that an ad for a motivational speaker? Criminy.

OK. That HAS to have been sanctioned by DC.  ???

Years ago there used to be a wholesale vegetable market in my city which had a very big sign advertising their company, and from what I remember it used this Curt Swan drawing from one of the old annuals:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/annual2.jpg)

It was "Super-Vege Man" or some such nonsense, and there was something in place of the "S" symbol. But it was THAT drawing they had ripped off almost exactly as it appears here. It's amazing what people get away with, but I suppose DC wouldn't even be aware of infringements Downunder, or maybe they don't care -- or it's not worth it in a financial sense to pursue the matter.

The Superstaff example I gave at the start of the thread came off a job vacancy newsletter I received this week. It's small fry material I know, but it is still using someone else's idea and property without permission.

There's another side to it, I suppose, in that Superman is so big and so famous, people just think the concept is public property. Most people in the Western world would recognise Clark Kent, but they'd be hard-pressed to name his creators or the comics company that owns him.

Which reminds me... A week or two ago, my wife was using my computer to show her Dad something, and they came across a still of George Reeves as Clark Kent, and my father-in-law, who has never read a comic and probably has never seen the old Superman show, said, "That's Clark Kent" when my wife asked him if he knew who the person was.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again... No one can underestimate how famous or how popular Superman is. The proof is all around us. He is a part of the public consciousness and popular culture like few other entities are. To me, that seems amazing.

I live in Fayetteville, GA and I drive through the city of Riverdale to get to the comic shop I have my box at.  Every week I drive by this brake shop that goes by the name Speedy and they actually have this gigantic Superman symbol on their sign.

It bugs me everytime I see it.

Here is another one, not as blatant:

http://www.opera.com/img/o8/main.jpg

A brake/muffler shop near my home uses a Wayne Boring rendition of Superman with his costume coloring/chest insignia altered for the muffler shop's slogan/theme...

Making references to Superman in places like advertising doesn't bother me because Superman is a character that - like Tarzan - has become so ubiquitous in pop culture the world over that, in a sense, he belongs to everybody just like Beethoven or Wagner...and further, when you reach the level of fame that Superman has reached as a fictional character, you start to represent a characteristic - in Superman's case, his ability to do anything (which is something a good computing firm would want!)

There was a story about the head of the recently opened BarnesAndNoble.com telling his computer technicians to think of themselves as Hercules. Not just because of Hercules's strength and fortitude, but because Hercules was the killer of Amazon women!  ;)

But if you want to see one especially funny reference to Superman in advertising, here in Miami the Uruguayan restaurant ZUPERPOLLO will oblige!

(http://65.118.75.251/Images/header.gif)

www.zuperpollo.com (http://www.zuperpollo.com)

Intriguingly, their specialty is steak, not chicken.

I'm not sure if anyone knows of/recalls this, but a few years ago a fellow by the name of Russell Oliver got in some trouble with DC.  He'd show up on local (Toronto) TV in ads, calling himself Cashman ("your jewelery for my cash!").  His costume was Superman's, except with a C instead of an S.  I wish I had a photo, because nothing did justice to the suit like a balding, slightly overweight, glasses wearing, middle-aged dude  :)

He even has a reference in Wikepedia, and since he's no longer referring himself as Cashman, I'm thinking DC lawyers did their job pretty thoroughly.

In the 60's, there was a dry-cleaning establishment in Lake Ronkonkoma NY called Kent Cleaners.

In one of the display posters in the store, was a drawing of a fellow in a suit and glasses that looked remarkably like the Curt Swan version of Clark Kent

I can't determine if it was a chain of stores or not....unable to find a copy of the poster online anywhere

It'll even happen to the big guy himself one day...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/larson2.jpg)

Here is the label from a can of food that was sitting in my kitchen cupboard. I must have seen this particular food label many times, but I never properly noticed the Superman rip-off.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/Beanman.jpg)

And yes, that is a can-opener hanging from his belt.

That's GREAT !   I assume he's Beanman !

A security company's sign on a shop in Melbourne.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/symbol1.jpg)     (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/symbol2.jpg)

http://www.charlesro.com/welcome_to_charles_ro.htm

 Where I live, there's a company, I think they're a plumber, that uses the diamond but instead of an S they use a B. If the Superman S was part of a font family, this is probably what the B would look like. It was done very well. 

The AmeriHost Inn has a very familiar looking logo:

http://www.amerihostinn.com/AmerihostInn/control/home

I actually find their slogan, "We're expecting you", a bit creepy, but then I probably read too many comics.