Tuesday, September 08, 2009

We've been robbed. Again. Intellectually this time.

The other day on Facebook some person recommended I become a fan of this site called Klub Retro, so I checked it out and noticed more than a few little similarities with Mr Vintage. As I continued to check out their content pages, I noticed that they’d copied our banners as well, and once I clicked through I realized that not only had they taken inspiration from our website, they had literally copied and pasted our copy from the website too!

They're like us, but way more shit. They're designs are pretty amateur, but bless them for trying...

It’s pretty annoying that a company would just come along and blatantly steal so much from our website. We worked on that for ages and put a lot of work and time in to designing it, and for someone to come along and rip it off leaves us with a pretty shitty feeling in the stomach.

I’ve included a few screen shots to show you how much they’ve copied us…. But if you really want to help out, just email them (sales@klubretro.com) and tell them how strongly you disapprove of their blatant plagiarism. CC me in (jay (@) mrvintage.co.nz) and the best few emails will win free tees.




Wholesale/Corporate pages. Remarkably different.




Sizing pages. Ctrl + C follwed by Ctrl +V.



Customer Service Pages.



About Us. Same axe.



Blog. Their monkey is slightly different. See.


23 comments:

Miss Serenity said...

That is totally not cool.
I am sending disgruntled email.

Anonymous said...

Losers!

I can't belive people stoop to copying. Lower than low.

Anonymous said...

Not all Australian's are bad - that's a pretty broad statement you made there. I am sure there are plenty of people out there doing similar things that are not Australian. Yes I agree there is a bad culture of thinking 'we can get away with it' in Australia but that is no need to be racist or to generalise.

Anonymous said...

Stupid thieving Aussies. Nuke them all I say.

Jay said...

Of course. We don't think all Aussies are bad... just this lot.

Unknown said...

It is a rip off but nether are exactly unique groundbreaking designs - both are pretty standard web web stores with nothing that stands out as different from the 20000000 other sites selling t-shirts (exept the mr vintage t's are great!).

At first i thought they were both default templtes for the same cms/shopping cart but for someone to copy a design that is not that outstanding in the first place is just stupid!

Emma Bryant said...

Well i think its pretty bloody average that they would steal the ideas, whether its an "outstanding" design or not. Think of your own ideas! I mean clearly they just want to be as cool as Mr vintage but Mr vintage is cool because its original. Obviously not the brightest crayons in the box that lot.

Scott said...

Imatation is the sincerest form of flattery. You're obviously doing something right but also doing something wrong if you're going to let them take the Australian market. You've got the headstart to clean them out, go for it!

Louise said...

That is terrible! They have no shame, they didn't even try to hide the copying. Wankers. Get some lawyers on that shit.

Unknown said...

Seriously...check out thier lame excuse for copying AND THEN all the angry NZers leaving comments...hilarious!
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8452471453022632091&postID=4167233973262697661&page=1

Unknown said...

Hi Rob and Team, Pia here from Nappies Direct. We've had a few companies do this to us but not as blatantly as these Retro guys. Keep up the good fight.

Ciao.

Unknown said...

KlubRetro sucks ass.

Sent off a cracking good email, and BCCd MrVintage in on it...

Cheers,
Tony Hughes

Sophia said...

what dicks!!

Unknown said...

At least you get the Google original content kudos. They will get pinged bad by Google for that. So not only do the Aussies nick a lot of rugby wins from the Kiwis but now they are stealing website content.

Anonymous said...

Is there not a law against this? i mean surely there is proof that you guys started it first & they copied it?
sigh. when will people think on their own.
but hey. how flattering though. just means its such an awesome idea!

Anonymous said...

As a director of a company that's had a legal claim against them (Kookychoo.com). Protecting one's IP (intellectual property)is a really serious issue. Think Coke, Nike and what would happen if someone tried to copy them?

We've been involved in a [banal] dispute for a while now. And this rings so true. These guys are pushing it to far, and are in major breach of copywrite. This is a very serious offence that will have huge financial implications for them.

For a supposed Guerilla marketing tactic, I suspect this will backfire majorily for them.

No one likes blatant rip off. He might get traffic (his first objective), but the question is really would you buy from them now? No.

Their credibility is shot to bits.

No doubt they will be hearing from solicitors very shortly.

And I wonder how long they'll (be allowed) to stay live.? Very naive and stupid marketing.

Andy said...

I wouldn't be too worried guys. Annoying, I know, but hey, Mr Vintage has waay hotter models than these fools - not so sure about the chick in the "Party Naked" shirt on their website =S

Keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine!

Unknown said...

Ok, they can't do it themselves. They have woeful designs, ugly models and no idea how to market themselves. Apparently they are going to create their own site. I can't wait....

Anonymous said...

I think you guys are totally looking at this the wrong way. If you guys are worth your salt (and you are) this should push you to step up your own game. Its a challenge not a hit. Get thinking how do i go one better and blow them away?? LIFE IS NOT FAIR step it up.

Matt Bray said...

The similarities are astounding. Even the wording is copied alot.
As a kiwi living in Oz I reckon you should try and tap in to the Ex-Pat market over here more. Maybe even with a Mr Vintage Oz section to wipe out Klub Copybro. I got onto you guys to represent NZ and your Ts are awesome. Keep up the good work. I'll be making another order soon.

Mark Lincoln said...

Hmm ... wouldn't it be funny if Mr Vintage took www.klubretro.com.au and directed it to their own site ... or is that just stooping to their level?

Alison said...

Not cool! You guys should send in your screen grabs to this site... http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/

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