No Credit for Humor
Rick Singer says his phony credit cards are just gags. But Visa and American Express aren’t laughing.
At first glance, Singer’s cards resemble Visa, American Express and MasterCard credit cards. A closer look shows they really say Hasta la Vista, American Excess and WasterCard. And the fine print subtly criticizes government spending.
Singer claims that his San Diego company, Poligags, has sold 50,000 cards since 1986, mostly to novelty and greeting card stores. But last month Visa sued him in federal court in San Diego, alleging trademark infringement and sought to block further sales. Singer, 36, has denied any wrongdoing and said he’s expressing his right to free speech.
American Express, meanwhile, asked Singer to make several changes, including dropping the color green from the American Excess cards. Singer’s retort: “They don’t own green.”
As for the WasterCard, he said, “We’ve never heard from the MasterCard people.”
Lights! Camera! Spaghetti!
Dino De Laurentiis, the Italian-born movie producer, isn’t closely identified with the so-called spaghetti Westerns. Those were the shoot-em-up films made on foreign locations masquerading as the American West. But De Laurentiis did take a flier once in spaghetti.
Known for “La Strada” and “King Kong” (and some box-office duds from his now-bankrupt public company), De Laurentiis recalled his hapless side venture in the Italian food business after becoming a U.S. resident in the 1970s.
“It was 10 years too soon,” he lamented at a press conference last week. “Now it would be a success.”
Yes, he has seen the current U.S. television commercial that advertises the Italian taste delights of De Laurentiis spaghetti. The flamboyant producer explained that he sold the spaghetti enterprise to “someone” with a provision for use of his name. Shrugging extravagantly, he said that he doesn’t even know “who these people are.”
Giorgio Has One Red Scent
The people at Giorgio Beverly Hills have kept a pretty low profile since the company was bought by Avon in May, 1987. But get ready to see Red.
Red is the company’s first new fragrance for women since the original Giorgio started making dollars and scents in 1981. Direct mail sales of Red (which spokeswoman Jacqueline Cohen said probably will sell for slightly higher than Giorgio’s $165 an ounce) will begin in November, with a department store launch planned for February and March.
Meanwhile, Giorgio’s first completely revamped advertising campaign since 1981 broke this month. Created by Eisaman, Johns & Laws Advertising of Los Angeles, the campaign consists of photos by Pierro Gimelli of Milan, who was asked to appeal to people’s “vivid fantasies” of Beverly Hills and the Giorgio fragrance. The ads feature precariously perched Giorgio bottles and exhort customers to “Live the Life.”
