Thursday, September 23, 2010

Goodbye Hard Rock Hotel And Rehab?

The hard Rock Corporation is suing The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and Rehab because the TV show puts the Hard Rock name in a bad light.
From the Las Vegas Sun: "The owner of the international Hard Rock brand no longer wants its name associated with the Las Vegas Hard Rock hotel-casino and is suing to cancel their licensing agreement, citing negative publicity from the Rehab pool parties and reality TV series.
Orlando-based Hard Rock Cafe International (USA) Inc. (HRCI) sued the owners of the Las Vegas hotel as well as Rehab's producer and broadcaster Tuesday in federal court in New York.
"The behavior depicted in the Rehab television program that is authorized, created and distributed by defendants is entirely at odds with the brand image of the Hard Rock marks (trademarks) and is likely to damage and has damaged the goodwill of the Hard Rock marks among consumers,'' the lawsuit charges. "Among other things, Rehab portrays the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, a property operated under trademarks owned and licensed by Hard Rock Cafe International, as a destination that revels in drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence, criminality and a host of other behavior that most members of the general consuming public of the United States who regularly frequent or are potential patrons of HRCI’s Hard Rock Cafe restaurants and other properties operated under the Hard Rock marks would find unseemly and objectionable.''

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/23/hard-rock-brand-sues-cites-rehab-behavior-las-vega/

I see the corporation's point. Rehab pretends to violate employees rights and create an environment for sexual harassment and this causes image problems to some people who frequent the Hard Rock. It can also set them up for a potential lawsuit later on by a disgruntled former worker who claims sexual harassment or worse.
The show Rehab pretend that what happens is real, but like most reality TV shows, most, if not all, the scenes are staged. But because it looks kind of real, people believe it, thus the problem.
So, now, we may have a new brand hotel where Hard Rock is.

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