Sony enters land of 'make.believe'

3. I'm the guy who came up with the phrase. I'm not a professional, I'm a teacher in the UK. I sent the idea to Sony's ads department about 2 years ago and offered it to them for £100. They never responded. Clearly some sharp eyed ******* within the company spotted it and kept the idea to present as his own. That seems to be Sony's way of doing things. I KNOW that Sony would deny that this happened, and would possibly use their corporate might against me, but what the hell I came up with the idea, I sent it to them, and all I wanted was £100 towards my school's funds. Shame that business and ads guys can be such ****s. On the other hand, if Sony want to make up for one of their staff's actions, my email is ictmanager@hotmail.com. Get in touch, Sony, own up, and own it legally AND morally by paying £100 into my school's funds.

2. OPEN LETTER to Sony re: “make.believe” copyright

I was the English guy who invented the phrase 'Sony Make Believe'. I do not work for Sony, and I have no connection with Sony.

I am a teacher in the UK who comes up with ideas like this at home and occasionally comes up with bright ideas for logos, slogans etc, to promote creativity in my Design teaching with 15 and 16 year old Graphic Design pupils, to encourage them to think 'outside the box'. 'Sony Make Believe' is an idea I had which has been discussed many times with my pupils during the past 5 years since I invented it.

I came up with this tagline / slogan and sent it to Sony's advertising department about 5 years ago. I own the copyright to the addition of the words 'Make Believe' to the word 'Sony' as an advertising slogan. It was a play on the words 'Sony Make Believe....' which, coloquially spoken, sounds like 'It's only Make Believe...', which, in the UK, parents will recognise as a phrase which they will have used with their children after watching television programs. I felt that it was a good pun for such a company producing high quality AV equipment. When I sent it to Sony, I offered them the rights to the tagline/slogan for 100 UK pounds. They never responded, but they have now used it as their global marketing campaign. They simply put a dot in it, to make the phrase 'Sony Make.Believe', made a big deal about the DOT representing 'Sony'... So it is VERY slightly different.

If Sony delve deep enough into their records, they will find the evidence of my contact. If they then pay me what I asked for the UK copyright, I will put the money into my school's funds for my pupils' benefit.

I am sure that the Sony corporation is unaware that one of its employees has conveniently forgotten to tell them where the idea came from, and are unaware of its origin. But someone in the Advertising department DOES know and is putting Sony's reputation is at risk if they do not do the right thing here. Corporate theft is just theft. I am just a guy with an idea.

If you've ever tried to get in touch with a company or, other that to order, to contact their service department, or their Head Office, you won't know how difficult it actually is to make contact with the right people. But it IS difficult, and the chain of communication may be difficult for Sony to trace. But trace it they should. This does sound a bit like the story of David and Goliath. But this short story is actually about one employee who didn't 'do the right thing' and passed off someone else's work as their own, probably to gain promotion, and about an internationally renowned company who ought to now feel a little embarrassed, rather than trying to bring the might of the legal establishment down on this claimant's head.

We're talking of a 100 UK pounds contribution to a school's Funds here, not industrial sabotage. That 100 UK pounds will be accepted as a gesture of goodwill. It wouldn't even pay for one of Sony's lawyers to write me one single letter. And funnily enough, the motto of my school is 'Tenez le Droit' or 'Do the Right Thing'.

Pay up, please, Sony, and let the next generation benefit.

You can contact me, the copyright holder, at ictmanager@hotmail.com

1. @Mark Harris. Excllent article, Mark. You have to love the marketing genius at work here. I wonder what it cost to come up with this campaign, let alone rolling it out around the known universe. Like millions of people are really going to go "Oh yes, Sony have a dot! I must buy their products!" And I suppose if, after hitting the iceberg, the Titanic's captain had lowered a sailor on a rope to paint a new name over the old one, Will.Float perhaps? the ship would have sailed on happily. The right products at the right prices, Sony, it really is that simple. Oh! And fix that backlighting problem on your TVs whilst you're at it!