Ferrari’s War on Influencers - YouTube

(engine revving)

- Ferrari.

The most well known auto maker in the world.

(engine revving)

Builder of some of the finest cars in history.

And also, huge sticklers.

Why is Ferrari sending cease and desist letters

to celebs doing things with their cars?

I think Ferrari is going about it all wrong.

First, a little disclosure.

I'm a big Ferarri fan.

I have been ever since I was a kid,

so all this is going to come from a place of love.

Second, a few months ago,

we built the most American Ferarri ever.

And the whole time, I was secretly hoping that we

would get a cease and desist from Ferrari.

I think Ferrari is going to send us a cease and desist.

I kind of hope they do. It's like a little badge of honor.

That seemed like it would be pretty cool,

like a right of passage.

We didn't, but the experience had me wondering.

Why did I think we were going to hear from

Ferrari's legal department in the first place?

I'm going to tell you about two cases.

One where Ferrari was in the right.

And one where I'm not so sure.

I first learned what a cease and desist was

back in 2014 when I read that Ferrari insisted

electronic music god, Deadmau5,

fix his custom Ferarri 458.

Deadmau5's prancing horse had been given

a bright blue wrap featuring nyan cat,

a cute little puddy cat whose body was a pop tart.

Adorable.

♪ Meow meow meow meow meow ♪

♪ Meow meow meow meow meow ♪

(beep)

To complete the build, the Ferrari was also given

custom badges, floor mats, and a license plate,

proclaiming Purrari.

Nice.

A cease and desist is a document sent

by a business or individual, in this case, Ferrari,

to another business or individual, in this case, Deadmau5,

warning them that if they don't quit partaking

in a perceived illegal action,

more legal action will be taken.

The illegal actions, in Ferrari's eyes,

were the custom Ferrari badges and floor mats.

If Deadmau5 didn't remove these offending items

from his 548, Ferrari would sue his ass into oblivion.

His career would be turned into Ghosts 'n Stuff,

am I right, Burbank?

Oh crap. You know what, (beep) you!

(beep)

This was kind of a big deal at the time.

Deadmau5 had a reputation of being a troll,

and a company as big as Ferrari had taken notice.

I'm guessing it must have been pretty validating for him,

even if it meant he had to remove the wrap

and the custom badges.

It was a legal win for Ferrari.

But, as we'll see later, I don't think it was worth it.

Just this year, Ferrari sent out another high profile

cease and desist, and this one was a doozy.

German designer Philip Plein received an order

from Ferrari to take down an Instagram post

which featured his shoes on the hood

of his Ferrari 812 Superfast.

In their cease and desist, Ferrari's lawyers

argued that Plein's posts tarnished the reputation

of Ferrari brand reception

and causes further material damage.

That cause is extremely subjective

in my extremely ignorant opinion.

Later on in the letter, they make a better case.

The undesirable connection between Ferrari's trademarks,

on one hand, and Philip's line of shoes, on the other,

interferes with Ferrari to sell their own line of shoes,

apparently.

Okay, so that makes a little bit of sense, I guess.

Ferrari says that placing the shoes

next to the Ferrari logo, along with the color coordination,

might mislead some customers into thinking

that this is some sort of collab.

So they want to nip that right in the bud, understandable.

But when they say that Ferrari's trademark and model cars

are associated in your pictures with a lifestyle totally

inconsistent with Ferrari's brand perception,

That's where they lose me.

He's got babes, and cars, and a mansion, and the Ferrari.

Isn't that exactly how everyone perceives Ferrari?

I think that's what bugs me about Ferrari so much.

They act like they don't know who buys their cars.

No other company acts this way.

What if Nike sued people for reselling their shoes?

What if Dodge sent cease and desist to people

who kept the bumper guards on?

Actually if you do that, you should be sued,

that's just my opinion.

But, I digress, maybe Ferrari is right.

If that's not the lifestyle and perception

that Ferrari wants, then what is?

We need to look closer at their history to find out.

But not too into it, because this isn't Up to Speed.

(fast electronic music)

Ferrari started building road cars back in the late 1940s.

The Ferrari 125s was a sports car, of course,

that could pull double duty as a cruiser

and full time race car.

Racing, back then, was different.

They basically raced on closed off public roads,

and so Ferrari, the guy who started Ferrari,

had no other choice but to build road cars,

if he wanted to build race cars.

Since the company had so much experience winning races,

the road cars were really, really good.

Regardless, Ferrari's reputation was built upon two pillars.

Race cars and road cars inspired by those race cars.

The name Ferrari became synonymous with performance,

especially if you ignore the 2019 F1 season,

am I right Burbank? Come on. Come on, Chuckle Hut,

I'm on fire!

That legacy of victory, which celebrated it's 90th

anniversary this year, mind you,

is what Ferrari is talking about when they say lifestyle

and perception in their cease and desist letters.

In Ferrari's own word, the Ferrari logo, with it's iconic

prancing horse symbolizes Italian luxury,

exclusivity, performance, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

We get it!

But in the case of Philip Plein's shoes and babes,

I don't think Ferrari is in the right,

because I don't think the perception Ferrari has

of themselves is how everyone else in the world

sees Ferrari.

Now, what I'm about to say is completely anecdotal,

and thus, inadmissible in court, but,

have you ever seen someone ask if any random sports car

is a Ferrari?

I have.

According to my mom, every red sports car is a Ferrari.

The prancing horse has almost become like Kleenex, right?

Kleenex is a brand name of facial tissue,

but everyone just calls facial tissues Kleenex.

I think Ferrari's public perception has moved

far beyond victory and performance

to just nice sports car in general,

which is why I have such a hard time with them

going after Philip Plein.

To non-car people, Ferrari doesn't symbolize

Italian luxury, exclusivity, performance, design,

and the quality the world over.

The prancing horse symbolizes success, because

they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Nobody who saw Philip Plein's post would think

Hmph, this post definitely makes me think less of Ferrari.

They're thinking, hmph, that guy probably (beep).

Again, I have literally zero legal experience,

besides Phoenix Right, ace attorney,

but I think this whole cease and desist thing

goes beyond the courtroom

and into the court of public opinion.

My question is, would seeing Ferrari tell owners

what they can and cannot do with their car,

dissuade someone from buying one?

Would they look somewhere else?

(electronic music)

Lamborghini looks like Ferrari on the surface.

They're Italian, they make fast cars,

and they've got a farm animal as their mascot.

But Lamborghini differs in one major area.

They know who the frick is buying their cars.

Since the beginning, Lambo's whole plan

has been to build the most ridiculous and flashy cars,

for ridiculous and flashy people.

James went to the Lamborghini factory last year,

and he said it was basically like an old school speed shop.

Their cars might cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,

but Lamborghini is all about building

the craziest (beep) possible.

(upbeat music)

And, their clientele knows this.

You don't buy a Lamborghini because you want

people to know you enjoy Italian luxury,

exclusivity, performance, design and quality,

you buy it because you're insane.

(fast electronic music)

Why do you think Alex Choi choose the Huracan

to build his Unicorn on?

In Deadmau5's case, Ferrari didn't really have a choice

when it came to sending that cease and desist.

Remember those floor mats and badges?

Cute, right?

Well Ferrari argued that the logos infringed on

copyright, which they have the right to protect.

If Ferrari didn't go after Deadmau5,

it could have came back to bite them in the butt.

If another, more serious, infringement

happened in the future,

and Ferrari didn't go after those floor mats,

the perspective defendant could point at that and say

hey- you guys didn't say anything about that,

why should we listen to you?

And that could hold up in court because of precedent.

Large companies, like Ferrari, have to go after every case

of copyright infringement no matter how small,

to keep something like that from happening.

What about our friend Philip Plein?

I think that's too far. He's a rich fashionisto,

who's whole brand revolves around decadent opulence.

As we discussed, he's pretty much the perfect client,

and no one thinks those shoes are going to be a collab.

Come on, Ferrari! What are we doing?

In the end, I think Ferrari is just a weird company,

in general.

They make incredible machines, and you can't argue

with their heritage, but I think their quest

to protect that heritage at all costs, makes them

seem a bit stuck up, and that might alienate future buyers.

I think it would behoove them to rethink

their brand perception a little bit.

And have more fun.

I mean, you guys make supercars, for crying out loud!

Hey guys, we got a show called Car Wars.

The Donut Gang going against some of your favorite

YouTubers like Linus Tech Tips.

My favorite challenge was the cruise control race

with Gus Johnson.

I surprisingly was not very good at it,

but Gus killed it, so check it out,

that's Car Wars wherever you get your videos.

Love you guys, like I said at the top,

you can't see me.

I said I like you, remember, I said that.

Be nice, I'll see you next time.

If you need protection, Don't send the Tafazzi after me.

Bye.

♪ Meow meow meow meow meow ♪

♪ Meow meow meow meow meow ♪

♪ Meow meow meow meow meow ♪