Flap over flamingo clothing does more than ruffle feathers

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This article was published 08/06/2019 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Transcona’s Hi Neighbour Festival has said “bye, neighbour” to one entrepreneur whose clothing line features pink flamingos, Transcona’s “unofficial-official” bird.

Jason Petric said the Transcona Hi Neighbour Festival sent him a cease-and-desist letter last August — about three months after Petric started the Transcona Lifestyle clothing line, which has designs that feature the brand’s name and a pink flamingo.

“The flamingo is Transcona’s unofficial-official bird,” Petric said. “It was a way for us to try and connect with our community, have some fun (and) play on some of the stigmas and jokes Winnipeg likes to make about Transcona.”

The festival claimed Petric’s clothing drew too heavily on its copyrighted designs, which feature a pink flamingo and the phrase “I (Heart) Transcona.”

“I think they know it’s a stretch. What I think they’re mostly worried about is the competition,” Petric said. “I’m not here to crush the festival… We are, at best, (breaking) even.”

Petric said he had a meeting last fall with members of the festival’s board of directors, including chairman, Ray Ulasy. He said he left feeling the issue had been resolved in his favour.

“They were very encouraging of it,” Petric said. “I don’t know what changed.”

But that’s not what Ulasy remembers about the meeting.

“There was no confusion,” Ulasy said. “The takeaway (from that meeting) was that he had to stop producing and selling that brand.”

Ulasy said the festival didn’t want to be associated with some of the content Transcona Lifestyle posts online, including jokes about sex and binge drinking.

“He doesn’t share our core values. That’s a huge issue for us,” Ulasy said.

Ulasy said a clothing company based in Halifax has already taken legal action against Transcona Lifestyle for copyright infringement.

A search of Nova Scotia court documents showed no such records.

Petric said when he submitted a vendor application to the festival a few months ago, he got no response for weeks.

He said he was eventually told the board would accept the application if he gave the festival a 10 per cent cut of his earnings.

Petric said he told the board he wanted to negotiate that number, but didn’t hear back until May 31 — a week before the start of the festival — when they told him Transcona Lifestyle would not be welcome to sell its clothing at the Hi Neighbour Festival.

By that point, Petric said he had ordered about $2,500 worth of merchandise.

Ulasy said he doesn’t recall the festival asking to take a cut of Petric’s profits, or indicating he was approved as a vendor.

“There was never a discussion about anything like that,” he said.

Petric said while he hopes to resolve the issue with the festival, it looks like the end for Transcona Lifestyle.

“It would be great if they could loosen their grip and allow us to take part,” he said. “We are here to support Transcona and we are here to support the festival that’s been around for 50-plus years.”

caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.ca