…and I understand why. I know to most this looks like a company is trying to shake down a blog for having an opinion but that’s not the case. People are allowed to have an opinion. That’s not against the law. The issue changes when people make claims to be factual information and that’s what the Blogger of Daily Polish did. She posted dupes of 3 Ginger + Liz nail colors and compared them to Diamond Cosmetics. She also stated that all 3 are “100 % identical” and that what she is saying is the “truth”. Not once but frequently. That’s where opinion ends. If you make a claim to be factual you better have some “100% proof” to go along with that claim or be prepared to be threatened with legal action. If the company can prove your claim to be false and that the sales of their product have diminished because of it, you have a problem on your hands. Beauty bloggers (and everyone else for that matter) are allowed to post dupes and compare products. All Lacquered Up is a great example of a nail polish blogger that post dupes frequently. She’s also reviewed Ginger + Liz nail polish. I’ve been sent a Cease & Desist letter from a major nail polish company in the past and I removed the post. Not because it was my opinion but because the information I posted was originally released with without permission and the PR rep was very upset and said that had she know she would have just contacted me personally. Companies will do what they have to do to protect their company. This issue has been going on since April so I’m sure there is more to the story. I’ve never reviewed Ginger + Liz nail polish but in my opinion the colors look close but not identical at all.
The screen shot below is from someone by the name of “Sara” just like the blogger from Daily Polish making the same claim…clearly not for the first time judging by the response.
UPDATE: I contacted Sara to ask her if Ginger + Liz ever contacted her prior to the C&D letter and this is her response:
krissy – no. i never heard from G+L in any way from before i ever posted my comparisons. they never reached out to me directly anyway except through a few twitter messages when my polishes got lost in the post en route from the USA to the UK. also there was over a month gap between my comparisons & the C/D. i am aware that defamation stretches beyond a blog but their letter is only in reference to the post linked above.
xo
sara
No I personally feel this is where they could have contacted her directly about her comments. It’s always best to contact the blogger via PR rep or directly about the issue prior to threatening them with legal action no matter what. A company should expect backlash when they do it in the matter that G+L did it in.
Well said! I think these are points that a lot of people (including myself) either were ignorant of, or failed to see. Bravo for pointing them out.
I have to say that whilst I don't like the way Sara has gone about this, "the truth will prevail in the end" comment to me does indicate that she has has irrefutable proof of the company lying about something, I do think that Ginger + Liz has gone overboard with the cease and desist. Surely they would have known that the negative publicity wouldn't do them any favours? A nicely worded letter informing her of the legal boundaries that she is obliged to operate within may have been a much better way of dealing with her…
Be that as it may, even if Sara was in the wrong, a lawyer's letter sent right off the bat is a very heavy handed response, especially considering that you're dealing with a pretty harmless individual. A much better response would have been to get a PR rep to send a more friendly-sounding email clarifying the situation. That would have the same effect and avoided all the drama. Even if G+L is in the right, this isn't doing them any favours. A lawyer's letter should be what you send after avenues have failed, and not the first thing you think of.
@Nicole McPheat and @musical houses – great point but the power of blogging is HUGE…its now the first line of promotion for most companies both large and small. Something like this can really hit a company hard. Daily Polish is a pretty popular blog….even more popular then Ginger + Liz lol. I'm not sure they contacted her before hand…this issue has been going on since April so they surely had enough time to do so.
I also want to point out that when most bloggers find out that someone is using their photos for profit or without their permission and without crediting the blogger …they rarely send a 'friendly' letter. They send a C&D lol…if you don't protect your work and brand then who will?
THROWBACK POST: : Ginger + Liz threatens Blogger with legal action… + UPDATE http://t.co/K6D7o1rj