Categories
Complaints Personal

Criticism is a Good Thing

Yesterday I posted the picture above on my Instagram account of a new tshirt I had ordered online. It took me a month to get the tshirt because it was on backorder and so when a friend of mine pointed out that a local fashion store was selling a locally printed version (i.e. imitation) I got upset for two reasons:

1) If its a good creative idea you support the designer who came up with the idea and you don’t get a local printshop to reprint the design for you

2) The store that was selling the fake tshirts (I won’t mention the brand and any mention of the brand in the comments will be deleted) is actually a very well respected brand and one that I actually liked

So I visited their Instagram account and found the tshirt listed for sale there and in the comments I read the following:

The tshirt was by a local designer and not the official one in NYC so I left the following comment:

To my surprise instead of them apologizing for selling imitation goods they responded with the following comment:

I stayed diplomatic and responded highlighting the fact that they themselves said it was by a local designer and not that they had permission from the official brand to reprint it in Kuwait. I also tagged my friend Fajer the lawyer in the comments so that she was aware of the situation as well. A few moments later they deleted all my comments and blocked me from their account.

I decided to contact the original designer just to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake and turns out I hadn’t. According to the designer who created the orignal tshirt she never gave anybody permission to sell or reprint her tshirts. In fact the local store was sent the following email to cease sale of the tshirts:

VIOLATION OF TRADEMARK – Remove Immediately
We have been notified that you are in violation of our trademark ‘Ain’t Laurent Without Yves’. Please immediately cease sale of all materials with our trademark logo on it; Should you continue to sell these items we will pursue severe legal damages for profits lost.

We never gave you, or any other vendor permission to sell our product with our slogan on it. Your claims on twitter are false and are damaging our brand.

The reason I am pointing this situation out is to discuss how criticism is handled in the region. Even when I was right I got attacked and a lot of other people do too. We should be able to have freedom of speech and criticism actually helps companies (and people) to know how they can improve. People in the region need to calm down and start accepting criticism.

If you’re interested in the tshirt above you can purchase it directly from the original designer at whataboutyves.com

133 replies on “Criticism is a Good Thing”

I saw the exact same thing the other day on another instagram account selling locally made (i.e. plagiarized) “Homies” t-shirts, among other copied designs. They even directly took the t-shirt modeling pictures straight from the website. I also highly doubt that the took permission from the original artist.

Seriously criticism needs to be taken in a different tone. Not every question or different opinion expressed leads to a lawyer! Killing, stealing, plagiarism on the other hand, yes, they do lead to a lawyer.

with all due respect mr. mark 🙂

but I can see in the back and forth comments between you and the local store that you had started with accusation before you even had checked and made sure of your story, which is a bit NOT appropriate.

And may I add that your criticism lacked diplomacy and credibility, since the local store responded that it is by a local artist. I think it’s hard for you to believe that local artist can come up with good stuff. NO prof yet if the NYC artist is the original!!

also, it is very strange and shady of you to comment in the store’s instagram account before every one and say all these accusation -before even knowing for sure- while you choose to privately email the designer who you thought is the original.

I hope you like my CRITICISM and show it without editing.

many thanks 🙂

Hey Moe, to answer your points, I didn’t have to check with the original designer first who is based in NYC because the local store said it was by a local designer. I don’t find it hard to believe local artist can come up with good stuff (exhibit “A” Tatabotata and exhibit “B” Monstariam exhibit “C” all the other designers I’ve previously highlighted on the blog) but in this case to think the local artist came up with this design and by mere coincidence it turned out to be the exact same line and exact same typography as the original one the States is too far fetched.

My criticism did lack diplomacy, I’m not a very diplomatic person. I never denied that but that doesn’t change or make what I said not true.

I also don’t think it’s shady for me to comment on the stores instagram account. Why is that shady? Did they have an email address listed which I could have used to contact them in private? No. But, even if they did I don’t see whats wrong in leaving a comment under the actual image?

you stated “Did they have an email address listed which I could have used to contact them in private?”

answer: YES!! and a phone number as well.

this is what I mean by shady! clearly the store have a website you can go to and see their email and phone numbers listed, but you choose to bluntly accuse them in their official instagram. while you easily went to the NYC designer and got hold of their email and contacted them and put a copy of their response!! hahaha how convenient.

i’m still criticizing 🙂 which is all good

They had a phone number listed yes but not an email address. But as I stated above, even if they did have an email address I would not have emailed them. Why would I email them if I could leave a comment right there instantly inside instagram? It’s not up to you or them to tell me where or how I should contact them. It’s my choice and just because I chose to contact them via Instagram doesn’t change the fact that their tshirt was an imitation.

I’m curious though to why you keep using the word shady. Shady means sneaky and I’m not sure what you find sneaky in me pointing their tshirt is an imitation. Are you suggesting or hinting that I had a hidden agenda here?

In case of any public statement against a person or an organization etc.. the other party always has the right to reply and defend himself/itself, which happened in the case of Mark, he used a public platform, but he did not hinder them from using the same platform to reply and defend themselves. Whether they were convincing or not, this is the store’s responsibility and not Mark. The problem in the region Mark is that ppl here are bad losers and lack the common sense of things. An idea is an Intellectual Property and has a value. using the same idea is comparable to stealing.

Excuse me Mr. Mark but I did not mean or suggest that you had an agenda.

but the local store commenting when your “continuos slurs of local artist” made me think a little, because lately almost all your new about Kuwait is a bit negetative -eg, the fattest country, the unfriendliest nation.. and so on!!

I wish you could be a more positive force in our country rather than pointing out the flaws and hunting down local creativity.

I hope the word “shady” make sense now.

all my respect to you 🙂

Part of my job is to share interesting news about kuwait on this blog. Sometimes it’s negative (and funny) stuff like kuwait beings the fattest country in the world and other times its positive stuff like the beautiful new GDIS building. In both cases though I’m just sharing articles and not actually making this stuff up.

Also even though the local store accused me of continuously slurring artists in the region it doesn’t mean it’s actually true. Anybody who reads my blog knows that I try my best to support local and regional talent and I am constantly doing that. If you just take a look at my posts from this past week you will clearly see that. I actually don’t recall a post where I have attacked a regional artist, maybe just one but I knew the guy and I even told him face to face what I thought of his work.

Not really ,
Country related facts is not equal to an individual artist in any sense.

And when they mentioned Artists ,They speak about the local rappers and such . If you have noticed Mark has never ever offended them in any way.

Its the commenters who offend them. You’re logic is broken on that level.

Cheers

Please shut up, you want to blame Mark now for all the **ed up shit in Kuwait? We are the fattest and unfriendliest nation in the world and it has nothing to do with him lol.. There is nothing positive going on in this country I don’t know how he manages to even find the very little that exists..

Kudos N2, Agree, Mark is a VERY fair blogger. He highlights individuals who are trying to make a difference in Kuwait through their arduous efforts, jumping through hoops of government bureaucracy, to clean up the government’s failure to manage this society. and due to the government not bringing this nation up-to-par with neighboring GCC nations,(that is how you, Kuwait, will be judged) through the simple implementation of a basic development plan, this nation is isolated in the region. Foreign businesses don’t want to operate here, companies set up shop in all neighboring GCC nations EXCEPT Kuwait unless it is a business brought by Al-Shaya or if it is fast food joint (ie making you the fattest country in the world), but what Kuwait has become is a major ‘bootleg’ hub. Even the shisha, as reported in the news, was found to be bootleg. Merchants don’t care, they exploit the public, there are no government protection agencies for buyers and it has a foul reputation sending potentional buyers to hit the Jazeera flights to buy just about everything (check out the old carousels at KIA). Mark has every RIGHT to expose this Kuwait trend and notify the original artist overseas. And there are some of us that if we see you selling purposely defective product lines, or bootleg merchandise in MAJOR EU lines, and you know who you are, where Kuwaiti women clammer to buy the newest collections from the EU, I (we) will turn you in to the corporate headquarters, Kuwait, because you are insulting foreign designers.

truth hurts. should we show pictures of our wonderful detriorating parks, schools, ministry buildings, social systems etc.. our wonderfully attended symposioms and cultural events where they even get it wrong on banners. i think its better spread the facts, ex: Kuwait fattest country, if it isn’t posted here (where lots and lots and lots of people will see and raise awarness and that shit) then it’ll be posted somewhere else, we can’t hide it. 2nd, this dude according to what i have read has grown up all his life in kuwait and shares a similar childhood to many kuwaitis and u see how fond he is of the country and many aspects of it. 2ndly I REALLY AM SICK OF LOW Quality Overpriced plagarized Tshirts. Is it ok because they are kuwaiti made, come come i’ll sell put a certain logo and copy that brands material and ill price it 50 KD because its been ordered by my kuwaiti fingers for my driver or maids to make. My opinon?

And if you exert energy into looking for nice tshirts <-(replace with something that is of your interest books games events whatever..) or whatever only to see some bs version here, you'd be ticked off.

OW Lastly, i personally really don't care what these people do because plagirism and overselling plagarized things is haram for me and i wouldn't be able to let it pass if i was profiting from them, but kuwait matroosa 7aramiya. And another mans issue with a Tshirt being copied is the least of my concerns, but when the first response is talk to my lawyer, yuba 5alhom yitakooooon. (they need a Huge Chill Pill)

Sorry Moe, i think you got the whole “i am criticizing” the wrong way rather u are putting a cynical approach to the subject and throwing an opinion about what someone should do and how based on the way u see appropriate, and that my friend is not criticism.

the subject here is about plagiarism in broad daylight, arrogance and the typical attitude of threatening people! because someone caught them and decided to speak freely, which is the his birth right and protected by law!! he did not slander them, use profanity or anything that is illegal…..

there is no right or wrong in speaking the truth and no one needs to pamper anyone, especially not thieves that act high and mighty and accuse him of slur and attacking local talents, what talents are we talking about? the ones that plagiarize their way through?

so please don’t deviate the subject, people around need to learn to follow the law and accept the fact that people have the right to talk…

Dear mr. mark OR bask

*CONFUSION ALLERT*

indeed plagiarism is a bad bad thing, false accusation on the other hand is worse!

let me enlighten you a little about the T-SHIRT you’re upset about which is itself a plagiarized twist of Yves Saint Laurent, using the same name, font face and colors of the famous trademark.

of course, you have the right to talk, and be contradictory, and look down on local talents.. it’s your life

dear mr. mark I wasn’t accusing you of anything, I was talking to mr. bask for that matter.

no comment for D. as it clearly stands for Delusional

Psst… No comment means not commenting, not saying “no comment” and then trying to get a dig in against me.

I like how pointing out how the arguments logically don’t work is somehow far less rational than trying to obscure the issue and make up motivations to attribute to Mark in a failed attempt to disparage him instead of his argument.
I suppose we can add “delusional” to the list of words and terms you obviously don’t understand but try to use anyway 😉

Even if we pretend your arguments have some merit here, they still wouldn’t work. Let’s see why:

Argument one: A false accusation of plagiarism is worse than actual plagiarism.

This is irrelevant because this was not a false accusation. But if we accept this reasoning, we assume that it is worse because of the damage it has done. In this case, IF this had been a false accusation, the company is anonymous and the responses were scrapped and therefore not easily searchable (if at all). So, no damage was done. As it has been confirmed that this is NOT a false accusation, even an argument about the POTENTIAL damage (limited due to above reasons) is pointless. But hey, while we’re talking actual damage, the artist is losing out on revenue. They poured time and energy into this and this company just waltzed in and ripped off their design. Why not focus on the ACTUAL damage done instead of trying to quibble over potential harm?

Argument two: You don’t support local artists.

A quick look around this blog will show you that this is obviously false. Mark highlights many Kuwaiti artists (and really some of them should have stayed hidden). But if we assume this is true, what of it? A criticism is not automatically invalid simply because the person making it has a habit of targeting certain groups.

Argument three: The original shirt is plagiarized, too!

Two wrongs don’t make a right. And if you’re highlighting this alleged plagiarism (it’s not) to make Mark look like a hypocrite for defending it, please note that you are defending the stealing of this supposedly stolen design. This is not like Robin Hood robbing the rich to give the poor, this is like stealing from Robin Hood. In the end you are still doing a bad thing.

You are clearly associated with this brand for some way, or an eerily obsessive fan (you have information not provided in the post). Seeing as you are so very concerned about the damage words can do, why are you making them look bad with this ineffective and pathetic defense on their behalf?

Buddy, Mr Enlightenment you are the one confused. there are 2 camps here “US” talking about plagiarism and how people should learn to accept criticism without pulling muscles and threats vs the 2nd Camp “U & the accuser” who are steering the subject off track into local talents and accusing this blog of being bias towards a culture.

see, while mark was pointing fingers to 2 important facts (plagiarism & freedom of speech” u on the contrary are undermining the subject to focus on something else completely irrelevant.

even if u do entertain some logic but the fact where the people here he is referring 2, plagiarized, threatened and even lied about having printing license, makes it shameful that u deviate the attention and have us debate it.

whose confused now?

Can I add something : your blog has covered dozens if not hundreds of creative local people over the years just like we have in bazaar magazine.Its funny howwhen you expose a liar everyone is so quick to defend them….

1) Their actions were public, so why should they be criticized privately?
2) It seemed fairly obvious that it was stolen. Even if it had been a false accusation, it’s easy enough to clear it up with no harm done. He went directly to them, he didn’t run around telling everyone.
3) Nobody is obligated to be nice when criticizing someone for stealing. This is a company, presumably not one run by five year olds. They can handle it.
4) Do you even know what a slur means?
5) If this company (NOT EVEN NAMED, by the way) wanted people to speak nicely of them, then they shouldn’t have done crappy things. Not only did they steal and profit from someone else’s work, they had the nerve to be offended at being called out on it!
6) You are welcome to run your own blog. Nobody is obligated to run theirs according to your tastes.
7) We know what criticism looks like, thank you. Seeing as you’re such a huge fan of “diplomacy”, positivity and contacting people privately, why are you posting here whilst obviously being condescending, passive aggressive, and accusatory?
8) If “positivity” means not calling people out on stealing and lying about crappy products, then you can keep it.

I agree with Moe.

“People in the region need to calm down and start accepting criticism.”

…. Including you, Mark. Including you!

Hi Mark

I am surprised that you are surprised at their response….

This is a standard response seen here on the lines of “a best defense is a good offense”
LOOOOL

In a somewhat related story to this, you know how the U.S. is hard against counterfeiting and people buying from couterfeiters on U.S. soil, well the U.S. military camps here allow soldiers and contracters to send counterfeit merchandise home. I believe the quantity is still the same, as many bootleg dvd’s you would like as long as there aren’t doubles and 1 purse and watch per visit or day… a little hypocritical right?

Hotel ‘A’ (Camp Arifjan) is riddled with hypocrisy. I don’t think one US company follows Kuwait Labor Laws in Kuwait and do not even follow US laws overseas unless it works in their favor – you have sited one example above and there are many.

i guess someone is mad that he bought it and it turned out he wasted HIS time and money.

i think it’s about you not the designer, my opinion.

Judging from the prices local artists charge for t-shirts, it’s not far fetched to think that the Kuwaiti made counterfeit was probably more expensive or at the least the same price as the original American design.

Copying in this way is theft – pure and simple. It deprives the original designer of revenue and, in many cases, damages their reputation by attaching their designs to lower quality garments and selling them in places that do not enhance their brand image.

To give an example that should be well understood…

My friend is not Kuwaiti, but has lived his whole life in Kuwait. He is in a restaurant and tells the waiter that he is from the Al (insert name of well-respected Kuwaiti family here) family.

He then proceeds to be rude and obnoxious and the impression left with the staff and the other diners is that members of this family are uncivilized and it damages their reputation.

Most families would be outraged that an outsider was pretending to be one of them, damaging their reputation.

So why should it be different for a designer who has spent years building his reputation,?

LOL @ anon

so true 😀

i just think you blow it out of its proportion!! the tshirt you have is also an imitation HELLOOO

Make your own tees dude.

“ain’t no mark without fuchsia”

“everyday is a shani day”

“ain’t no sunshine without a burger of mine”

“burger dude-will work for junk food”

Contact me for more original ideas!

dude seriously print your t shirt
this is one of the greatest idea i have ever heared, i mean the concept is really cool, until or unless its plagiarized 😉

Unless you never torrented a show or bought a bootleg DVD in your life you can’t really complain about this

Good on you for pointing this out.

Kuwait has the most liberal voicing journalism in the gulf but is a long ways away to go.

Truth only harms those who cower from it, and you did nothing wrong. As far as I am concerned you made a general opinion and got attacked because it conflicted with their version of the truth…

Kuwait should have a version of the ‘shame on you’ show, lol.

Even the “original” T-shirt in this story is an imitation in a way and if I were YSL I would go after the smart ass that thinks it is funny to mess around with words and to make fun of the YSL brand. Poor tast in clothes anyway as it looks more like somethimg you would expect to find at a nightmrket in Bangkok.

how would you feel if someone printed on pink tee:
TWOFORTYEIGHTAM thinks he’s better than kuwait

would it be funny? would it count as a parody too?

btw.. buy a dictionary cuz u keep asking about the meaning of imitation

yes i do have an issue with people who always have an issue with my country..

god luck with the lawsuit coming your way soon

ditto since I have an issue with people like you who don’t think Kuwait is my country.

Make sure you vote for me next year #markforsalmiya2014

hahaha, sorry that was funny from Miss Alfares….you do seem to be chillin in Europe or Lebanon most of the time…lol

Or you’re always running to the airport.

It’s okay to let the country you claim to care about deteriorate, but pointing out flaws so that it may improve is the terrible thing? Right…

I know the t-shirt is not an imitation, but it might give the idea that its a YSL. Now that is in no way a copyright infringement, but in the moral sense they are in a way making money from someone’s else effort (brand name).

Mark, you are right, in Kuwait people take criticism as an insult.

Intellectual property is disrespected around here.

In my opinion you did the right thing in pointing out the the customers that they are buying a fake.

If they really had a competent designer he/she should be used to design and not copy……

Why is it that in kuwait men think its ok to wear a ladies t shirt? No self respecting man would buy one of them. the metrosexual look aint good.

Having spent more time than I like to admit studying Economics at a level which some would consider advanced one tends to stop looking at the world with such notions such as copy rights infringement being unethical. The fact is our world is based on exploitation of the most reprehensible kind, and every single one of us is complicit. If that person can capitalise on another idea and enrich him/her self then more power to them. If the person who came up with the idea has a problem with that then they ought to take action, and see whether they are able to reclaim their property.

Just look at China. One of the economic wonders of our world. How did they get this way? For that matter, how did the west get its wealth? I’d rather buy from our local thief, who is far far more honest. Or at the very least spend my oil money on my fellow citizens when possible.

I like to wear a plain black T-Shirt with a nice pair of raw selvage denim. The look has that “Rebel without a cause” vibe. I don’t particularly like commentary on my T-Shirts.

The copyright laws in this country are very lax and also there is this bully mentality where the guilty party will try to intimidate you with legal action (ref. to their response to Mark in the screenshot)

I had a similar experience with a Kuwaiti newspaper and their response was “we found your picture in a Google search and so we used it”. When I told them they could have at least asked for my permission before printing the advertisement they just changed the picture in the next day’s print. Their response over the phone wasn’t too pleasant either.

Coming back to topic..
People in this country need to learn to accept the fact that someone will criticize your idea/product if its out in public. Just coz you can bake a dozen red velvet cupcakes or screen print stolen designs on T-shirts does not mean you’re an “entrepreneur”.

nor an “artist”

if you really want to crack down on counterfeit shirts, look no further than the shops near your place.

even counterfeit medicines abound!

Criticism is a healthy phenomenon. Mark has made a valid point – yet not necessary an issue. The Local brand should indicate that this is an imitation of the original one, which was proven as marked contacted them and they responded confirming the same. However from a consumer’s perspective – a person should be able to distinguish the authenticity of a product and in order to evaluate the value being paid for the product. If the Local brand indicated that it is an imitation, then the consumer will have a better understanding and make a choice of purchasing it through the local brand or via the original designers with a premium cost of shipping etc.

Passed near them the other day; they seem to have the same traffic they always get.

We may think what ever we’d like to … but Hey the law is the law; it protects rights.

Don’t sweat the small stuff people.

War, exploitation and famine. Perspective.

Awesome Tee and great arms!

^Things people say that really mean “I don’t actually care too much about any of those things, I just want you to shut up.”

If you’re interested in the tshirt above you can purchase it directly from the designer from whataboutyves.com

lol.

I thought copyright was a serious issue here, especially after that whole Lulu Hypermarket fiasco. I guess rules are applied selectively.

Thanks a lot Mark for posting the link, I just purchased it!

It is a really cool shirt, for people who get it. It does suck they changed their name. “Saint Laurent” doesn’t sound right.

Stuff ’em Mark,sounds like they got caught out. And to think this all could have been solved if the company would have said,
“As far as we know it is an original- thanks for your comment, we will investigate the matter.”

I didn’t get your purpose to tell the company. If something is really good so people will start to imitate them. And imitaions will not be as good as the original. In my opinion this guys are also attract others with yves saint laurent’s name.

Am I understanding this correctly? So a hispter, in NY, made a smart play of words on someone else’s intellectual property, and is upset that someone else ripped his off?

Good job Mark!

100% serious, no sarcasm.

I whole heartedly agree with what you said and how you handled the situation.

That is great that you stick to your principles. Very rare that people here respect the copyright law. Bah humbug. Some think if they shout loud then they win the fight. They don’t realize that it only makes them look stupid

Mark,

This episode is about your own personal sense of having been wronged, not by any outrage at a copyright infringement.

You had to order it from NY, wait a month to get it, maybe paid more than what is being charged here, and perhaps you expected some exclusivity. All the while the shirt was available off the shelf right here in Kuwait.

What would your position have been had you known the shirt was being sold here before your ordered it? Would you have made a fuss about copyright infringement?

WR

Webster its just a tshirt, you dont think i’ve ordered stuff only to find out later they’ve been sold here? I’ve actually posted about situations like that before like my headphones which turned out to be selling cheaper in kuwait then the price i paid for it online and shipping.

Don’t turn this into something petty.

it’s a petty my dear mark that you still shut your eyes closed on the bigger picture, and still think you’re right on accusing people of plagiarism for JUST a tshirt!! a tshirt which by the way have been reproduced by many suppliers. and maybe in better quality than the one you had.

guess people out there dont know wats a blog or debate…. once upon a time it used to be “Comment, argue, conclusion. have a laugh n thats about it”. NOW it should be called “letssuemark.com” ….lol …Mark great posts … good luck buddy…..

Ha! Many years ago when YSL raised many eyebrows by parading topless models at a fashion show in Paris, a tshirt appeared on the street reading “Yves Seins Laurent”. (get it?)

(I tried to order one on the internet but there was no internet back then!)

Leave a Reply to blurty Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *