Using Brand Names in Your Voice Over Demo?
If you're using brand names such as McDonald's, Ford, or Pepsi and you actually didn't record for them officially, read this post.
David Bourgeois at Voice Coaches commented on my previous post about demo critiques and raised a very important point; one that could save you from bearing the nuisance of legal activity!
Unless you are the voice of an official campaign, it may be safer to stick to fictitious company names or leave the product and or company name out altogether.
What's in a name? Find out at VOX Daily.
I'd like to introduce the VOX Daily community to David Bourgeois, President and Creative Director of VoiceCoaches.com.
Over the past couple of months, David has become a fan of VOX Daily, commenting on posts that interest him with vigor, veracity and a unique perspective on the industry.
One such comment (the one that inspired this article) recently was posted to an article I wrote earlier today about the critiquing of voice over demos. One of the points David highlighted in his comment was about the use of national brand names and trademarks in voice over demos.
His point of view?
This is what David's comment on my previous post was.
I think it would do everyone, particularly beginners a dose of good if you take everything David said in this comment (and in general) to heart:
One other area I want to address is the unauthorized use of national brands and product names on a demo. Regardless of the fact that a lot of people do this and, worse yet, many of those teaching in our field suggest doing this, this practice is a pretty bad idea.First off, though it's a grey area, you technically can't use and replicate a trademarked brand name without permission from those who own the trademark. Now in reality, I wouldn't imagine Pepsi is going to pursue legal action against you for making up a fake Pepsi spot on your demo, but they could.
Here is the more important problem. By using well-known national brands on a demo, you are misrepresenting yourself as a professional. Voice Actors, even at the highest national level don't often have faces or names attached to them like actors in visual media do. So if I get a demo with a Ford truck spot on it, am I to assume the voice actor on that demo did that spot? Further more if I throw that demo in with a few others to present to a client, will the client know the difference. Worse yet, will the client feel I am misrepresenting the talent to them?
At our studios we have a very simple solution to this. Demos that arrive with fake national scripts for products or companies that are currently on the market are discarded. I just met with an ad group and many agency reps echoed this.
Rather than misrepresenting yourself, develop your own copy, or work with a friend who can help. At the very least change the national brand names in the scripts you read!
There are many folks out there who will make a number of excuses for this, but, at the end of the day, using national brands on a demo makes it very hard for those doing the hiring and casting to make accurate decisions... unless you really did do the Pepsi spot!
David Bourgeois and the crew at VoiceCoaches.com are right!
When you can do so, it is in your best interest to take the "Better to be safe than sorry" approach.
As David intimated, if you record and mention the name of a brand that you didn't actually do voice work for, you could get in hot water with the courts.
Although it is unlikely that a company the size of Pepsi will chase a person down for using their name in this way, they very well could.
To add to David's thoughts, I wonder if the voice actor who had actually been hired to voice a particular spot that had been incorporated by other talents in their demos would have a right to ask that they remove the piece from the demo so as to prevent confusion, particularly if they say that they are the voice of "ABC" campaign and others are voicing the same copy.
Technically, that could do some damage to their reputation if a client wants to hire the Pepsi voice but then backs out because they can't find the real voice actor or they think that the voice actors who are recording that material (illegally) are the actual voice and the true talent loses work over it.
This is one of the reasons why our team at Voices.com produced the Voice Over Script Collection (original and public domain narration) and the Commercial Scripts for Radio and Television Ads (original works). All of the commercials are free of brand names (all fictitious) and are royalty-free for you to use so as not to have to worry about having problems with corporations or other voice actors.
Could voice actors along with the companies they record authentic material for big name clients effectively take their own peers to court over some name dropping in a voice over demo using the copy they recorded?
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Share them here and let's get this conversation rolling!
Best,
Stephanie
Photo © VoiceCoaches.com / David Bourgeois
Comments
I understand the thinking, and yes surely a corporate entity could take legal action (but very, very unlikely).
Let's remember... all agents and clients understand that this is just a sample of your voice qualities for their own particular needs. No deceptive intent here. I think even a judge would come to that conclusion if a case ever came to court.
Has anyone even heard of this happening?
Technically incorrect, perhaps... real world, I don't think it's something for us to wring our hands about. Just my opinion.
Anyone out there with similar thoughts?
Best to all,
Scott DeGrave
Posted by: Scott DeGrave | May 15, 2007 3:45 PM
Thank-you for another insightful post! My comment is about using generic scripts and other public domain material.
In seeking and editing scripts for use in a VO demo, I would just urge talent to exercise some creativity and try to use pieces that nobody else is using.
For more on my somewhat strong opinion about this :) see:
Scripts for the Voice Over Demo
Best wishes,
Mary McKitrick
Posted by: Mary McKitrick | May 15, 2007 4:40 PM
Hey Scott
Thanks for the comments about Stephanie's comments regarding my comments....wow these blogs can get complex!
Again, I agree that the legal aspect is probably much less of a concern than the risk of misrepresenting yourself as a talent.
While a perspective agent or client "may" very well look past remarked material on a demo, you can be assured that many do not. I recently ran into this for something I was casting for the WE Network.
The idea to play it safe with copy is intended as a strong suggestion to give aspiring Voice Actors the greatest opportunity for success, without potentially misrepresenting themselves.
But again, I too seriously doubt anyone will end up in court over this!
Be Well.
David
Posted by: David Bourgeois | May 15, 2007 5:29 PM
Once upon a time ... many years ago ... in a place where there were maybe 100 people doing VO in a major advertising market, nobody put anything on their demo other than work they had actually done and been paid for. They were recorded on reel to reel or DAT tape and ran up to 5 minutes long.
Then, the cat was let out of the bag. Stories of folks making hundreds of dollars per hour (plus residuals) did the rounds and hundreds, thousands and soon tens of thousands of people thought this was a great way to get rich quickly.
Now we see 60 second demos (soon the norm will be 30 seconds and eventually, just 3 seconds and a slate) full of material with brand names like McDonalds, Pepsi, Google etc. And why not? I don't see it as bad form or unethical. We are not representing ourselves as the spokesperson for these products - we are showing that we could be and this is how we'd do this spot if we were.
It may be different if a talent has the words, "Got Milk" on their demo or, "Yahooooooooooooooo," as these are buttons and tags that are virtually trademarks.
No Producer/Director thinks for one second that this is THE voice of the company. They have been around long enough to know that the demo showcases your potential not your history. You are not misrepresenting yourself as a professional - any listener can tell if this is a rookie or a seasoned pro.
Does an actor performing a monologue for the Theatre or Film have to have played that role? Of course not. And a VO talent shouldn't have to make up names of fictitious companies in order to be ethical.
Posted by: David Menashe | May 16, 2007 1:54 PM
So, you discard demos with national brand names even if they're kick ass demos? Isn't it all about the voice and delivery? So, you take the time to check with every client on the demo to make sure at some point, they have REALLY worked with that client? This is all seems a little silly to me.
Posted by: Terry Daniel | July 19, 2008 7:23 PM