Yesterday, the publishers of Paw Prints The Magazine called out Three Dog Bakery, accusing the pet-food store of pooping on a fundraiser for area animal shelters scheduled for next month.
At that event, known in the past as "Dog's Night Out," dog owners take their pooches to a Wizards game, with ticket proceeds benefiting Animal Haven, the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City and Wayside Waifs. In a post titled "Three Dog Bakery screws the pooch," Dale and Stacy Smith claim that Three Dog Bakery tried to "extort" the title sponsorship after trademarking the name "Dog's Night Out." The Wizards and the Smiths had already started selling tickets and contacting event sponsors, including Three Dog Bakery, using the old name.
Paw Prints
editor Stacy E. Smith tells The Pitch that she tried to call Three Dog to
see if it would sponsor the event. But no one at Three Dog returned
her calls (Three Dog also hasn't returned calls from The Pitch).
"Finally, we realized why we didn't get a call back because they were consulting with attorneys," Smith says.
On Wednesday, Three Dog Bakery sent an e-mail to the Wizards saying that using the "Dog's Night Out" phrase violated Three Dog's trademark. If the Wizards wanted to use the name, then Three Dog wanted to be the title sponsor. But Three Dog didn't offer to throw in any bones.
"They tried to extort a title sponsorship out of it," Smith says. "A nationally televised game
that's going to get a lot of publicity without offering one dime of a
donation to these charities. And that's what the title sponsorship is
for. That's why we were so shocked."
No dice. The Wizards are changing the name of the event to "Dog's Night at the Wizards."
The fundraiser is a go under the new name on May 23, with the Wizards playing Chivas USA at Community America Ball Park. A kickoff "Yappy Hour" is scheduled for April 29 at the 810 Zone in Leawood.
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Yeah, there's a bit of a fork inside road when individuals get effective wherever they either go down the "modesty" route or the "complete bugger" route. I'd say about 60 - 70 % on the time they take the latter.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. What a ridiculous article.
First, every year through its Gracie Foundation, Three Dog Bakery contributes thousands of dollars in proceeds from its own Dog�s Night Out charity dinners throughout the world. So although the Wizards had to choose a new name for their event� attended by a whopping 150 people three years ago�let�s think BIG PICTURE, please.
Next, check your facts, please. You get roughly 40M hits when you search Dog�s Night Out without quotes because returns are generated by every website with the word DOG�S, NIGHT, or OUT. Put it properly in quotes, and you get about 2,300 hits, many of which are duplicates.
Surely, Three Dog will be able to defend its trademark, and the Wizards will successfully promote their newly renamed �annual� event�held once every three years if convenient.
Sour grapes indeed!
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