Coke accidentally created an ad for our app. What should we do?

18 points by MatthewCampbell 14 years ago | 12 comments

A few months ago, a friend and I created a Facebook app. The Like-o-Meter. It counted the number of Likes on your Facebook wall posts and challenged you to beat your friends. It was a fun idea, but we didn't really get it off the ground yet.

Then, this afternoon, I started getting a flood of emails, all about the Like-o-Meter. Some said that they loved the app. Some were trying to make ambiguous business deals with me. I went to our app's Facebook Wall, and found a huge number of positive messages, all from people in Egypt.

There was no obvious reason for this sudden popularity. So I Googled. This came up: http://thenextweb.com/me/2011/06/13/did-coca-cola-just-create-an-ad-campaign-for-facebook/

Apparently Coca Cola is airing an ad in Egypt. The ad mentions the "Coca Cola Like-o-Meter" - a Facebook app of some sort. Their ad didn't display a URL, so people are finding mine. And using it. And, apparently, liking it. It seems to be spreading virally beyond people who saw the ad.

Has anything ever happened like this before?

And does anyone speak Arabic? What does the ad say about the Like-o-Meter? It's not a pro-Mubarak ad, is it?

UPDATE: apparently the entire concept of their app is a direct rip-off of mine, not just the name. I guess that makes the legal issues more interesting?

tomtom101 14 years ago |

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjDzFWsgFo here is the advert and the app http://apps.facebook.com/cocacolalike/home.php The advert does not say that much about the app. Basically the more you like stuff the better it is for your heart and health as liking things makes us feel good and others as they receive likes, so go ahead and start liking today, tomorrow and everyday. The like-o-meter keeps showing you everyday and then they start listing different users number of likes etc etc. No pro-Mubarak stuff at all, in fact they even show some footage of a protester standing in front of a riot van. Let me know if you want more info and good luck.

MatthewCampbell 14 years ago | |

Thank you so much! Sounds like a good ad.

It sounds like they're describing the concept in the same way that we do.

Shame that they're squeezing their branding into the revolution. Glad it was just one shot of that.

tomtom101 14 years ago |

I speak Arabic, taking a look for you now.

instakill 14 years ago |

Dude you're getting free traffic. I'd be happy. You won't be suing them if unless you'd like to lose, and they can't sue you because you were there before they were.

slig 14 years ago | |

Probably, but they can sure ask to FB to take his app down.

there 14 years ago |

see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2627051

noduerme 14 years ago |

"Finally, does anyone speak Arabic?" Lol. The CIA has been asking that for years.

In all seriousness, they probably didn't know they were doing it. If I were you I'd call a trademark/patent lawyer yesterday and see if you can register, given that you can show prior use. Coca-Cola is notorious as one of the absolute most-vicious companies on the planet when it comes to both registering and protecting their marks; there's a high probability they already registered Like-o-Meter, and will attack you as soon as they hear about yours.

This boost, on the whole, may not be a good thing; find a lawyer who's willing to assume an offensive posture if you want to hold onto your app. And good luck =)

MatthewCampbell 14 years ago | |

Thank you. Good thinking. Anyone know a good one in Boston?

Also, it turns out that the entire idea of their app was the same as ours. They had to be aware of us. Same name. Same app.

abbasmehdi 14 years ago | |

How can anyone threaten anything when you have prior art?

petervandijck 14 years ago | | |

Expensive laywers.

ra 14 years ago | |

Very good advice

noduerme 14 years ago |

re: UPDATE: apparently the entire concept of their app is a direct rip-off of mine, not just the name. I guess that makes the legal issues more interesting?

It might. Don't go on a spending spree yet. Let a competent lawyer look it over. My guess at a glance -- and I'm not a lawyer, just stewed in IP issues -- would be you'll have a hard time getting anything out of their theft of your concept, short of owning a patent. Copyright could give you some relief if they directly ripped your code off and you can prove they decompiled and/or used something from that. Your best bet again is probably trademark infringement against your mark which had prior use. (That also depends on if Facebook themselves haven't trademarked the word "Like" the way they've trademarked "Book".)

Other than a lawyer, your only bet is to raise an unholy racket here and in the blogosphere and make sure everyone knows you did it first. Which I fully support.