Have a break, eat a Chocolate McWilliam － 一休みして、マクウィリアム・チョコを食べよう －

If I used the slogan, “Have a break, eat a Chocolate McWilliam” in an advertising campaign, I could be taken to court in the UK.  That’s because the giant chocolate makers Nestle have trademarked the phrase, “Have a break.”  For years they have been using it as their advertising slogan for KitKats: “Have a break, have a KitKat.” 

So no one else can use the phrase, “Have a break” in their adverts.  Is that fair?  It seems like a very short and generic phrase to me.  Is it really so connected with the KitKat bar?  Couldn’t you just as easily say, “Let’s have a break.  Let’s have a cup of tea”? 

But Nestle are not content just to trademark slogans.  This week they lost a court case in the UK in which they tried to trademark the shape of the KitKat bar.  It has four fingers of chocolate connected together.  If they had won the case, then any other four fingered chocolate bar would have breached Nestle’s intellectual property rights. 

Actually, my advertising slogan, “Have a break, eat a Chocolate McWilliam” would not be allowed for another reason.  The giant hamburger chain McDonald’s has trademarked the use of “Mac” and “Mc” in any connection with food or drink.  Sorry, but there will never be a Chocolate McWilliam. 

People do realise that Mc is a very common start to family names in Scotland, don’t they?  Indeed, McDonald is a common Scottish family name.  So if your name is Mr. McLeod and you want to open a tea shop called “McLeod’s Tea, you may find yourself taken to court.

These giant companies are just being very cheeky, aren’t they?  They are trying to trademark basic words, sounds, shapes , colours etc.  People know when they are buying a KitKat because it says “KitKat” on the front in large letters.  It’s not because sticking four bits of food together is amazingly unique. 

By the way, when I started the English school NerimaEnglish, I trademarked the letter “N”, the colour blue, and the response “Hmmm” to a student’s question.  Anyone wishing to use any of these things in connection with English teaching now owes me money.  Please email me for details of where to send the money and how much.

Vocabulary:

to trademark something – to register an item, idea etc. as representing a company or product

generic – not unique; commonplace

to breach someone’s rights – when someone is entitled to a certain minimum standard of treatment, to act in a way that does not meet that standard

cheeky – showing a lack of respect or politeness, especially like a child or in an amusing way