Question

Topic: Strategy

Theme Proposal To Protect An Advertising Idea

Posted by jjohnny.yuma on 10/5/2014 at 10:40 PM ET 250 Points
How can I use my theme(s) to become a paid voice talent in the restaurant / food industries?

This is likely my only chance to quit trucking, and I'm not sure how to protect the theme as I search for a way to make it pay.

Trust is similar to respect. It is earned. This is important as I recognize how easy it is to steal the idea and leave me standing in the rain.

I'm not a lawyer and I understand that most companies would likely be reluctant to sign any kind of confidentiality and use agreement, particularly for an extended time. I am prepared to accept the fact that I am dead in the water, even before I cast off...

I have been using this play on words to generate smiles and laughter, where ever I eat, for 10 years.

This theme even generated laughter on a trucking (text) forum, that others carried over to an unrelated thread, in 2004 or 2005.

The theme should work for any type of restaurant, and should be adaptable to any culture. I use primarily a good old boy approach, but the theme can be adapted to a more refined delivery, as well as global markets.

I am not so good at saying funny things.
I have an natural and unpredictable talent for saying things in a funny way.

I'm told I sound like Larry the Cable Guy.
I can not hear the similarity.

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 10/5/2014 at 11:52 PM Accepted
    If the thing you are selling is a true skill (the sound quality of your voice and the way you can make people laugh), then you likely won';t need to protect much as it would be hard to replicate. By trying to protect what you have from being stolen, you likely will turn off your prospects, so I would do less rather than more in regards to protecting your idea.

    If it is stock lines that you have been using and are afraid will be stolen, you could find some way to show that you have been using the lines for a while. A tape of the lines will do with some way to show what date it was said. Or the words written down (again with a way to show a date). if you don;t have, you could tape or write down the words you use, and then stick in an envelope and mail to yourself. Don';t open, but just set aside. The postmark will be your time stamp.

    Good luck
  • Posted by saul.dobney on 10/6/2014 at 5:43 AM Member
    Copyright will give you a limited protection. You may also be able to find a way to trademark the words. However, at some point you've just got to take a risk and pitch it. Make a show-reel (get it properly made with a contract and invoice etc) that will show the idea is yours and you have paperwork to prove it, then if anyone steals it you have a trail back. Then you just have to take a chance to see if anyone will buy. I doubt though that it will make you rich even if someone takes you up on the idea.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 10/6/2014 at 8:52 AM Member
    I don't want to dash your hopes, but you've got 2 challenges: 1) if you can protect your idea legally (and prove it's original) you need to spend the $ to protect it and 2) what's valuable isn't the idea but the execution - and the only way to prove its value is to spend the $ to produce and advertise the idea for a client/vendor.

    Given you love of the idea and your awareness of how it works, perhaps you can leverage it in the trucking industry - where you've got the trust & confidence of others,
  • Posted by ARobert on 10/7/2014 at 10:56 AM Member
    I am a firm believer that an idea doesn't really cost anything before it is implemented somewhere. Also, a lot of times when you feel like you've got a great idea, somewhere-someone has thought about the same thing. And it comes down to this - who will be the first one to do it? I have many experiences writing down some ideas for webpages and soon enough, there are people who have done it themselves. There is no 100% guarantee on the protection of your idea since everything is a remix in some ways and if you won't directly be copied, then there are other ways of benefiting from it, for example by slight modifications. My advice would be to find the environment, find the people and find the channels - then just take the risk and pitch it!
  • Posted on 10/7/2014 at 1:11 PM Moderator
    I'm pretty much with Jay and ARobert. Just do whatever it is you want to do and don't expend any great effort trying to "protect" an idea.

    Even if you could copyright or patent whatever it is you have, you will have to police and enforce the "protection" -- if it can be protected at all. That kind of policing can get totally time-consuming and expensive -- with no guarantee that you'll be successful.
  • Posted by jjohnny.yuma on 10/8/2014 at 2:01 AM Author
    This forum is unfair. There are 5 solid responses and I have to choose only one, if I correctly understand the rules.

    Well, I've made a choice, but it was difficult.

    _________

    Hi, Peter. I can't tell you how encouraging that is... |:-)~

    Sometimes, I work at it, to find a new twist on words, as in the previous sentence. I do have a bit of a talent for making people laugh, though I have no apparent sense of humor.
    I think you are right about less being more, regarding protection.

    You've helped a lot.
    Thank you.
    _________

    Hi, saul.dobney. The limited protection and unattainable riches, sums it up quite well.
    Thank you.
    _________

    Hi, Jay. That's close enough to Hi, Jack, that I hope I don't get into trouble. |:-)~
    Now that you mention it, the value has to be in the execution. There are too many writers for it not to be. That and the cost, kills the idea of protecting it.

    The idea is generic, in that I use it where ever I eat, from fast food to the steak house. I use it mostly at the steak house though, because there is a server or someone usually asking how I'm doing. I'm a driver, always on the way to somewhere else. Not many places see me enough to differentiate me from any other patron.

    Thank you.
    _________

    Hi, ARobert. You are right. The 3 words cost me nothing, but have paid dividends from the smiles it generates, when it is followed by 3 other words. I know what you mean by "who will be the first one to do it?".

    I've had friends try to apply the idea, to a limited extent and only a short time. The don't get the reactions I get. I'm guessing it is the lack of animation and attitude. I am looking for those channels. That is why I'm here.

    Thank you.
    _________

    Hi, mgoodman. The cost to ""police and enforce the "protection"" on top of the cost to try to obtain the protection, is icing on the cake. I don't know that I will throw caution to the wind, but I will focus more on my unique characteristics vs. the theme.

    I've been trying to make a decision, while I destroyed a sausage biscuit. The quality of the responses were much more than I had expected.

    Thank you.
    _________

    I thank you all.
    _________ _________
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