Darrell Lea cancels ‘No Worries Jan’ ad after Yellow Pages’ legal threats
Darrell Lea has cancelled its ‘No Worries Jan’ campaign, which generated headlines after the Yellow Pages – the brand behind the iconic ‘Not Happy Jan’ ad campaign from the early 2000s – issued a cease and desist letter yesterday.
The confectionary company said in a statement entitled “No Worries Sensis!!” that while it’s “disappointed” Sensis issued the legal threat, it will cancel the ads and send “a big box of chocolate their way”.
“We wanted to celebrate a classic Australian television ad and give it a modern twist,” the statement read.
“As an Australian company with a 92-year heritage, we wanted to give an iconic ad a new lease of life and from the comments we received, the response was extremely positive.
“However, Sensis has demanded that we shut down our campaign through its lawyers.”
It was the first campaign created by Akkomplice for Darrell Lea, after the creative agency won the account earlier this month. The reimagined ‘Jan’ campaign was intended to relaunch the Australian confectionary brand into the market, after it fell into administration in 2012.
Darrell Lea noted in its statement that, at first, Sensis seemed to enjoy the ad.
“We were particularly delighted when the Sensis social media team posted their support of our ad across their social media channels [on Wednesday 29 May].”
But yesterday, Yellow Pages’ executive general manager, James Ciuffetelli said that seeing Darrell Lea use the Jan concept was a “total shock to us and our customers”, leading Sensis to send a cease and desist letter to Darrell Lea CEO Tim York, major TV stations and Akkomplice, demanding that the ads be pulled.
“It is important for advertisers and agencies to protect their work, creativity and innovation. This advert is so loved we feel we share it with the Australian people, and we believe it is right to protect this from being cheapened to sell chocolate,” he said.
Yellow Pages does not have a registered trademark for the ‘Not Happy Jan’ slogan, and emphasised the argument that the Darrell Lea campaign “is misleading to consumers”, causing some to believe that Yellow Pages was involved in the ads.
However, despite the tumultuous week, Darrell Lea hinted that something new would be coming soon: “To Aussie consumers who enjoy a new take on life, we say – stay tuned.”
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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Akkomplice
cease and desist
Darrell Lea
James Ciuffetelli
No Worries Jan
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Tim York
Yellow Pages
What horse shit. Fuck off Sensis. You’re an out-moded dying brand. Let Darrell Lea give your icon another lease of life. Besides, the original ad was for Yellow Pages. Not Sensis. So nobody thinks you were involved, you total ass-hats.
Round of applause to Darrell Lea and Akkomplice. Keep your chins up. This is a great ad. Even strategically, because both Yellow Pages and Darrell Lea were big brands in the 80s and 90s. So your key audience gets the total relevance of this ad. They were there in 2000, saying “Not happy, Jan” to all their friends. Your ad strikes a nice nostalgic chord with them, which is befitting of Darrell Lea.
Your effort has not been lost. We all know it was total deference to the original. That you weren’t “ripping it off”. We all respect your homage to an Aussie icon, even if that Aussie icon is now being besmirched by the complete fucktards at Sensis. At least we’re now all talking about Darrell Lea. I may even pop out and buy some choccy to celebrate.
And well done to the production team for matching shot for shot, the cast, the locations and even the props.
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Never look a gift horse in the mouth. A yellow pages freebie !
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seems petty and silly to me. I would have thought there was a net benefit for Yellow Pages in having this ad continue
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Unless of course Sensis are in on the deal and all will be revealed in the next few weeks? Too fanciful?
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Ha – funny ad, and hadn’t actually seen it prior to now.
A bit silly of Sensis to kick up a stink about it. Seriously, who even uses Yellow pages now days (#google). You’d think they’d have been flattered.
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Come on guys, don’t we think Akkomplice achieved exactly what they were after? They got free media and PR from the ‘outrage’ from a not brilliantly executed spoof ad, and got 4x free media vs what they actually paid.
I am sure they ticked every ‘strategic’ box…
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Hey Yellow Pages, we have this thing called the internet now so perhaps you could stop chopping down trees for a useless book that no one needs anymore. At least this ad made people remember you for a few minutes.
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Such a shame. It is so rare that we genuinely delight our viewers.
They deserve some fun. Missed opportunity Sensis – and thanks for not helping a great Aussie brand survive.
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CRINGE!!
They should be sending Darrell Lea chocolate gift baskets for introducing the idea of a phone book to a new entire generation!
Or better yet, do a comedic response ad!
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“cheapened to sell chocolate”
strong language from what is more or less an obsolete consumer directory… the fact that they don’t have copyright on the original campaign makes this a fairly speculative c&d… i’d suggest that sensis exercise caution dismounting from their high horse.
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this makes no sensis
thanks I’ll show myself out.
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There is no publicity like publicity, and the best publicity is where they spell your name prominently, repeatedly, and correctly.
Like 1212 I was surprised to read “cheapened to sell chocolate”
My opinion? The original campaign, although it was a fairly obvious one, worked well and made a mark.
Rehashing it (reviving it if you wish) is a lesser idea than the possible notion of generating controversy.
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Copyright is such a rocky road. I’ll follow “what” out.
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I enjoyed seeing that old ad why have things become so complicated …
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@what @ben I guess it takes all sorts
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Exactly. Its basically free advertising. And nobody uses yellow pages anymore anyway.
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?
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@harpo @ben @what I think the treatment of DL has been a little Rough, leaving their relationship with Sensis a little Brittle.
I guess we’ll have to wait for the next Twist. Its all one big SNOWStorm in a teacup.
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Dear James Ciuffetelli
I think sir, that unless you’re in on this, you’re what I’d call a ‘spud’.
If something as benign as a simple ad can be a ‘total shock’ to you, it says to me your corporate skin is a bit too thin. In that case, perhaps you should retire to something less intense like unicorn fur weaving.
Back to your (probably completely) confected shock, I tried to find a yellow pages customer to test your assertion that they too were shocked, but what should perhaps be more shocking for you is that I couldn’t find any! Even what I said ‘sensis’ I got replies like ‘has that come around again?’ or ‘I’m not telling the government anything’ or ‘I’m going to say I’m a Jedi this time’.
No amount of correction could help them. Whenever I tried to explain your business model I got quizzical, ‘don’t you mean google’ looks.
So James, maybe take the free hit your brand has got with good grace, and actually go along with the ride, instead of being such corporate bed-wetters.
All the best,
Jeff.
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Worth noting that Sensis is now owned by Platinum Equity, not Telstra when the ad was first created.
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