August
18, 2005 |
Dear
Friends of Mark and Matty:
Many of you have noticed a series of television commercials
for Round Table Pizza, reportedly produced by Siltanen &
Partners, depicting two puppets named "Matt and Marcus."
Over the past few months, many people have asked us if we had
anything to do with these commercials, or if we have licensed
the "Mark and Matty" concept and/or characters to
Round Table/Siltanen. We have not!
Although this unfortunate situation remains unresolved from
our perspective, we post this letter in response to these inquiries
to demonstrate the similarities and to hopefully eliminate any
confusion about the Round Table "Matt and Marcus"
commercials. |
| |
The Name
|
"The
Adventures of Mark and Matty" |
"Round
Table's Matt and Marcus" |
The
title of the "Matt and Marcus" commercials differs
only slightly from the "Mark and Matty" series—i.e.,
the former reverses the order and uses common derivatives of
the two names used in the latter.
|
The Logo
|
The
logo for the "Matt and Marcus" commercials uses the
same comic-book style lettering as the "Mark and Matty"
logo. Here is the "Mark and Matty" logo. We encourage
your to compare it to the "Matt and Marcus" logo.
|
The Location
|
"The
Adventures of Mark and Matty" is based in San Rafael, California |
Round
Table's website states that it is based about 30 minutes South-East
of San Rafael in Concord, California. |
The Characters
|
In
the "Mark and Matty" series:
Mark is a trendy, enthusiastic African-American male whose speech
is peppered with movie quotes. Matty is a Caucasian male who
is more grounded and practical. |
In
the "Matt and Marcus" Commercials:
Marcus is a witty, enthusiastic African-American male. Matt
is a Caucasian male who is more focused on describing the ingredients
used to make pizza. |
The Situation
|
In
each episode of the "Mark and Matty" series: Mark
and Matty crusade for justice and face some pending danger,
which is exaggerated by Mark and downplayed by Matty. |
In
the "Matt and Marcus" commercials:
Matt and Marcus crusade against inferior pizza ingredients,
often facing some urgent situation that Marcus is excited about
and Matt downplays. |
The Series
|
We
publish the "Mark and Matty" series online. The "webisodes"
are available on our web site. |
Although
the "Matt and Marcus" commercials are primarily broadcast
on television, the commercials are also available online. |
"The Adventures of Mark and Matty" series has a registered
copyright in the Library of Congress and we have been using the
"Mark and Matty" trademark for years. We hope that our
experience serves as a general lesson to the independent film
community: always protect your ideas!
We'd love to hear what you think. Please send us your honest thoughts
and opinions on this subject. Please email us at opinions@markandmatty.com |
|
Thanks again for all your support,
Mark and Matthew
The Adventures of Mark and Matty
www.markandmatty.com |
| |