Honda is airing an advertisement for its Happy Honda Day Sales Event for 2016. A former caretaker for Roy’s in Amboy, California, says the carmaker appropriated an image of the Route 66 landmark in animated footage for the spot.
Watch the ad about the nine-second mark. Those who’ve traveled Route 66 may see something that looks familiar:
Here’s a screen capture of one of the crucial spots in the ad:
Here’s a photo of the real Roy’s of Amboy:
The Honda image contains at least three prominent elements somewhat similar to Roy’s — the angular motel office, the big antenna tower in the background and especially the big sign.
In a Facebook post Thursday, Carlos Aceves, a former manager at Roy’s, isn’t happy:
Supposedly The production who made this commercial is claiming that they have never even heard of Amboy at all. But you be the judge of that. Take a good look at the similarities like the sign, its colors and shape, the water tank in the back ground, the motel lobby, the mountains in the back ground, the radio tower etc. They also claim that they completely made it up as an original Ben’s Dinner and no one would confuse this as Roy’s in Amboy. TELL ME YOUR OPINION SHOULD HONDA PAY or SHOULD WE BELIEVE THEM Roy’s motel survives off location rentals for filming and productions. How does Honda survive?
A story by the Graphic Arts Guild explains copyright or trademark infringement well:
Under copyright law, the standard for infringement is “substantial similarity.” Substantial similarity means an average observer would recognize that the second work takes copyrightable authorship from the first one. […] Copyright infringement occurs when your new work incorporates artistic expression from the original, even if it takes only a small part of the original work, and even if you add a lot of your own original expression. […]
Trademark law is not concerned about whether artistic expression has been copied. Rather, trademark law protects how a logo functions as a brand name, that is, to designate the source of goods or services. A new logo is confusingly similar to the original logo if consumers who encounter it might believe that it represents the same company. This is generally analyzed by looking at the similarity of the logos, the similarity of the parties’ respective goods and services, and several other factors, such as the strength of the original logo’s reputation, the relative sophistication of each party’s customers, etc.
If property owner Albert Okura wants to sue, he’d better make sure he gets a lawyer who works on retainer. You know Honda owns a team of lawyers, and they undoubtedly will argue the image was inspired by dozens of works of Googie architecture across the country.
In other words, it may look like a slamdunk case. But proving it in court is another matter.
(Image of Roy’s in Amboy, California, by Roy Randall via Flickr)
Good catch! I’ve seen that commercial several times, and never even noticed that the sign said “Ben’s!” I assumed that it was *supposed* to be Roy’s. I volunteer to be a witness at the trial.
If it was another diner/cafe doing it I could understand. It could benefit the other business or cause confusion. But this is an image in a commercial for cars.
I would spin it in a positive way and be happy a company as big as Honda might bring him some extra publicity.
When I saw this ad (before this article) Roy’s was the first thing I thought of.
My wife spotted the similarities right away when she seen the commercial having been there a few months ago. We both felt it’s where they got the idea from but I doubt anyone could get them for copyright infringement. Unless your a Route 66 fan, you wouldn’t know it’s based on a real place.
It’s a stretch to infer a connection. Maybe Roy’s can get some publicity, but my money’s on Honda to win any lawsuit.
We Route 66 advocates can counter Honda’s violation of Roy’s copyright rights with our wallets. We all need to do 2 things now. (1) Boycott Honda’s products and let everyone we know why we are doing so. (2) Let Honda know about the boycott and demand they discontinue the commercial.
-Jay
I’m still trying to figure out the problem with this. Honda hired an ad agency, who hired production, who 3D modeled a scene that resembled Roy’s. I caught the similarity but didn’t think anything negative. If anything, it may inspire some people to visit a place like this. Anyone can take a picture of your property from the street and use it anyway they choose. The same with you in public. I can’t wait to visit Roy’s someday in my Honda.
Actually I really like the music accompanying these ads. Apparently was written just for them. (And does Roy actually have that façade and setting copyrighted?)