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Original poster

Are Mr Men endorsing Mermaids?

30 replies

Sazzasez · 04/08/2022 00:19

Are Mr Men endorsing Mermaids?

Or are Mermaids infringing Mr Men copyright?

This from Mermaids Twitter.

if I were anything to do with the company that owns Mr Men I’d disassociate from Mermaids ASAP, and get the lawyers to have a word.

Are Mr Men endorsing Mermaids?
OP posts:
pink85 · 04/08/2022 00:25

I've seen the Mr Men stuff being used as memes so they probably made these themselves though I'm not sure and wouldn't be surprised if one of my beloved childhood series has been captured now

LunaLights · 04/08/2022 00:31

So another childhood institution off the list? This is shit.

TheBiologyStupid · 04/08/2022 00:58

LunaLights · 04/08/2022 00:31

So another childhood institution off the list? This is shit.

Yup. Little Miss Headtilt will be out any day now... Grrr!

GrimDamnFanjo · 04/08/2022 01:17

I had some dealings a very long time ago and they would have had to have permission?
Who owns the brand now?

TheBiologyStupid · 04/08/2022 01:25

GrimDamnFanjo · 04/08/2022 01:17

I had some dealings a very long time ago and they would have had to have permission?
Who owns the brand now?

According to Wikipedia, the Mr Men rights have belonged to Sanrio, the Japanese creators of Hello Kitty, since 2011.

MrsJamin · 04/08/2022 06:16

There's ways to make these images yourself, no need to boycott anyone. Mermaids are just jumping on a meme trend. Ironically this meme started as a way to frame your trauma in a cute way, unbeknownst to Mermaids, I'm sure.

Deliriumoftheendless · 04/08/2022 07:31

I don’t know where they came from but they are memes everyone is getting in on - I’ve recently seen them for buying sustainably and also my home town so it seems (as others have pointed out) they’re make your own memes. (there’s probably a Which Mumsnet Little Miss are you out there somewhere 😏)

Hotandbothereds · 04/08/2022 08:10

The font doesn’t look quite right for these to be official, and if it was an official endorsement surely they’d have tagged the Mr Men accounts?

A few people have tagged them, would be great if mermaids had to take this down for copy write infringement!

FartOutLoudDay · 04/08/2022 08:29

It’a a current meme

KittenKong · 04/08/2022 08:41

It’s a meme generation thing isn’t it? Some American ‘womens’ organisation did one with a tagline abusing women, so not surprised the fishy folk jumped on that bandwagon.

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 04/08/2022 08:55

Dd has a thing on her phone where you can find out what little miss you are (i assume there is a mr man one)

turns out dd is ‘little miss wears a bra as a top’ 😳

Original poster
Sazzasez · 04/08/2022 19:45

I think there’s a big difference in individuals doing it, and a registered charity of such dubious tendencies as Mermaids doing it and adding the Mermaids logo.

Ive written to the copyright holders asking whether they endorse this.

OP posts:
TheBiologyStupid · 04/08/2022 20:00

Sazzasez · 04/08/2022 19:45

I think there’s a big difference in individuals doing it, and a registered charity of such dubious tendencies as Mermaids doing it and adding the Mermaids logo.

Ive written to the copyright holders asking whether they endorse this.

Brilliant, well done Sazzasez.

Hotandbothereds · 04/08/2022 21:28

Sazzasez · 04/08/2022 19:45

I think there’s a big difference in individuals doing it, and a registered charity of such dubious tendencies as Mermaids doing it and adding the Mermaids logo.

Ive written to the copyright holders asking whether they endorse this.

Top work! Look forward to hearing their reply

howdoesatoastermaketoast · 06/08/2022 20:35

good work @Sazzasez - Lighthearted suggestions for their next title -

Little Miss tired of sexist bullshit...

PlantSpider · 12/08/2022 14:51

Yes and predictably ‘Mr’ stays as Mr but ‘Miss’ is Mx. 🙄

Humbold · 13/08/2022 10:35

Sanrio do Hello Kitty don't they? I imagine a large proportion of those who purchase Hello Kitty are middle-aged transwomen and gender fluid young people with cartoon avatars and an anime obsession who spend a lot of time online designing stickers and fan art featuring cartoon characters. Not sure they'd want to piss that demographic off by suing Mermaids.

Imagine a world where Mr Men and Hello Kitty were cancelled?!!😱But I suppose copyright infringement is copyright infringement. I'll be interested to see how this pans out.

TheBiologyStupid · 13/08/2022 10:51

Sanrio do Hello Kitty don't they?

They do indeed. Weirdly, the Hello Kitty character herself is supposedly a British schoolgirl called Kitty White who lives just outside London. www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-hello-kitty-in-los-angeles-not-a-cat-20140826-column.html

KittenKong · 13/08/2022 12:07

Companies buy and sell the rights to cartoon /characters used for promo items. They won’t like this one bit (especially as they won’t be making money and it’s a bad look for the brand)

girlwhowearsglasses · 13/08/2022 12:28

Designer here.
they are infringing but it’s such a massive meme at the moment I doubt thy will chase everyone. Briefly considered doing one for one of my clients but they weren’t keen for this reason.

Many years ago I did a penguin book lookalike poster for a very local event. Someone took it upon themselves to report it and Penguin sent me a ‘cease and desist’ letter 😱

KittenKong · 13/08/2022 12:31

I guess they would pick a few high profile ones (say a ‘charity’) and have a few words.

these copyrights are world a fortune.

BaileySharp · 13/08/2022 13:43

I dont think Sanrio have a stance I think they're happy for people to pay to use their characters tbh!

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