Lawyer William Mattar may need a lawyer

[gsdx]

His commercials are rather prominent during People's Court. He handles mostly car accident cases. An 'ambulance chaser'. His new commercial, however, may get him in deep shit. It's not even on YouTube yet, so I can't post it.

It has the Geico gecko talking to someone portraying Mattar's secretary. The gecko's voice is different, but the accent is similar. It's clearly an imitation. Oh, and the gecko has a paper bag over his head.

Sitting on a sofa in the office is an imitation Geico caveman and the 'Weeee!' pig hiding behind a newspaper. At the end, they even have the Aflac duck trying to sound like Gilbert Gottfried.

Is using company trademarks like that legal?

 

[Axxess]

His commercials are rather prominent during People's Court. He handles mostly car accident cases. An 'ambulance chaser'. His new commercial, however, may get him in deep shit. It's not even on YouTube yet, so I can't post it.

It has the Geico gecko talking to someone portraying Mattar's secretary. The gecko's voice is different, but the accent is similar. It's clearly an imitation. Oh, and the gecko has a paper bag over his head.

Sitting on a sofa in the office is an imitation Geico caveman and the 'Weeee!' pig hiding behind a newspaper. At the end, they even have the Aflac duck trying to sound like Gilbert Gottfried.

Is using company trademarks like that legal?

Well, without seeing the commercial I can't say for sure, but based on your description, yes. There's a reason the gecko has a bag over his head and the pig is hiding behind a newspaper. Instead of expressly showing the characters they obscure them in some way, leaving us with the implication of who they are. By implying who they are instead of stating it, they can get around copyrights and the like. This is sometimes done by TV shows that want to parody something but can't (or don't want to) get permission from the owners.

 

[gsdx]

There's a reason the gecko has a bag over his head and the pig is hiding behind a newspaper.

The gecko is there in cognito. The pig and the caveman are sitting on a sofa. The pig is clearly seen peeking over the paper before disappearing behind it. The caveman and the Aflac duck are in full view. They weren't parodies. They were in that office seeking William Mattar's services because they weren't getting satisfaction from their insurance companies.

 

[Swellegant]

I imagine a lawyer would consult copyright law before filming a commercial that might seem to infringe on it. They're shifty that way.

 

[MrRochesterNY]

"Hurt In A Car? Call William Mattar. 555-5555"

His competitor advertises: "Don't wait. Call 8. 888-8888"

Easy to remember phone numbers I wonder whom you get if you call 000-0000?

 

[gsdx]

"Hurt In A Car? Call William Mattar. 555-5555"

Close. It's 444-4444.

 

[ronboy]

He has a branch office in Rochester too, and he advertises heavily on shows like "The People's Court," "Judge Judy," and "Maury."
I believe that he is home based in the Buffalo area (Williamsville, if memory serves me correctly).

Mattar was the first, with 444-4444.

Cellino and Barnes, another huge personal injury law firm from Buffalo, (with offices across Upstate NY) has 888-8888 ("Don't wait, call 8!").

222-2222 is also quite popular with law firms in Buffalo (The O'Brien Firm), Chicago (Glen Lerner), Austin Texas (Dunham and Jones),
Lake Worth, Florida (Charles Williams, Esq.), Tampa, Florida (Powell and Espat), Dallas (Frenkel and Frenkel), Phoenix (Goldwater Law Firm), and many more (just Google it like I did!).

 

[MrRochesterNY]

Close. It's 444-4444.

OMG, good to know. What if I had been hurt in a car and called 555-5555 and gotten the morgue?

Mange tak!