It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town

As the hardreading staff noted yesterday, the crew at Sully’s ran a full-page ad in the Boston Herald accusing retail giant Target of ripping off the local t-shirt company’s trademark products. The open letter to Target began this way:

We are big fans. Your stores have everything anyone could need, all under one roof, and we were thrilled when we heard you’d opened a store next to Fenway Park. But when you recently launched your “Local Pride” line of Boston themed t-shirts, our fans took note. They told us that our trademark “Green Monstah” t-shirt, which we’ve sold for ten years, was now available at Target, but missing the Sully’s Brand logo. This was one of a dozen other t-shirts, all promoting “Boston Pride”, courtesy of a man named Todd Snyder. “Who?” we all asked. A Google search revealed that “Todd Snyder” is a brand incorporated by a man of the same name in NEW YORK CITY.

Outsourcing Boston Pride to NYC? The home of the Yankees? The Evil Empire?! Say it ain’t so, Target. Say it ain’t so.

We contacted the crew at Sully’s and the PR people at Target, and the latter got back to us first.

Hi [Hardreading Staff],

Sorry for the delay. Here’s what I can share.

We have a deep appreciation for design, including respecting the design rights of others. We are looking into this issue.

Best,
Erika [Winkels]

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe – which has been playing catch-up with the hardleading staff from the get-go – filed a web piece last night.

Local T-shirt seller takes out ad to criticize Target’s ‘Local Pride’ effort

The Boston-New York sports rivalry is so iconic that it often spills over into the business world — the sports business world, at least.

The owner of a North Shore T-shirt company is hoping to play on that rivalry by calling out Target in a full-page Boston Herald ad on Monday, criticizing the retailer for using a New York designer in its “Local Pride” initiative.

Sully’s Brand prints and sells T-shirts with local themes — sayings such as “Free Brady,” and “Believe in Boston” — and argues that Minneapolis-based Target should be using a local company like Sully’s to source its own Boston-themed wear instead of New York-based designer Todd Snyder. Both Target and Sully’s sell “Green Monstah” shirts.

But, so far anyway, only Sully’s claims to hold the Green Monstah trademark.

As for Sully’s crew, no word from them yet, although they did talk to the Herald today.

We’ll keep you posted.