Apple doesn’t like people paying for their apple. The firm wants to prevent the diffusion of a comedy baptized Apple-Man, for fear that one associates it with its mark.
In 2020, director Vasyl Moskalenko managed to raise the necessary funds for the production of his next feature film. A kickstarter campaign that will give birth to a strange project, a superheroic comedy that will follow a character capable of levitating apples, the fruit of course. However, if the distinction is rather clear in the language of Molière, things get a little trickier in English.
baptized apple-man, this new feature film worries the Cupertino company, which fears that it is affiliated with its activities in the audiovisual sector. This is not an Apple TV+ production, but an independent film whose first trailer was entirely produced during the pandemic, from the director’s apartment. She had also made a lot of noise when she left.
To avoid confusion, according to the director, Apple filed a 467-page complaint against him. The main object of these lawsuits: “consumers may believe that Apple Man is associated with, endorsed or supplied by Apple”.
“It looks like brand bullying”
On YouTube, Vasyl Moskalenko spoke through a video about the project. In addition to recalling the respect he has for the company, he wanted to clarify that his story was at no time linked to the brand and its products. Rather, he describes his feature film as a sarcastic parody of superhero sagas, which pays homage to the genre.
“I never referred to a MacBook, iPad or any branded product. My film is dedicated to this fruit, the apple. I respect your company a lot, you do beautiful things, you give tools to directors. These tools have helped us raise our game. I understand that you want to protect your business and your brand from any negative influence. But in no way do I intend to damage your brand with my film”.
Asked by iPhone Canada, he explained: “It looks a lot like brand bullying. I continue to hope that this situation is just a misunderstanding. I am open to negotiation and hope we can resolve this dispute.” He adds that his film has been approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and that Apple is now trying to defeat this request. A situation that could radically impact the distribution of the film. “If my registration were to be refused, there is no guarantee that Apple will not require the deletion of my film after release.”
This isn’t the first time Apple has filed such a lawsuit. As our colleagues from Apple Insider remind us, the brand has already attacked Swatch for having affixed the mention “Tick different” on some of his watches. As a reminder, since the 90s, Apple has used the slogan “ThinkDifferent” to promote its products.
