While Prithvi Shaw took of his career with registering a hundred on Test debut in first test between India and West Indies in Rajkot on September 4, there were negative vibes of the brutal world of brand preservation coming Prithvi’s way.
Sports marketing firm, Baseline Ventures which manages Shaw’s commercial interests, sent a cease-and-desist notice to foodtech Unicorn Swiggy and digital payment app FreeCharge, seeking compensation of Rs 1 crore from each of them for allegedly “encashing the name and fame” without authorisation in the tweets by these two companies.
As quoted by MediaMana, the notice said: “Our Client has absolute and exclusive right to fully market and monetize all commercial rights associated with the Player in all territories globally including without limitation, media and broadcasting rights (on all platforms like TV, Radio, internet, social media, multimedia, books and publications, outdoor advertising, print, mobile phones, digital etc), sponsorship and advertising rights, licensing and merchandising rights, gaming rights, media footage rights, apparel rights, website rights etc.”
“It is absolutely clear from your advertisement that you are encashing the name and fame of the Player without any authorization from Our Client merely to cause unlawful gain to yourself and unlawful loss to Our Client.”
Shaw signed a multi-year deal with Baseline Ventures last year and the firm currently manages the player’s commercial interests. While congratulating Prithvi Shaw was not an issue, the argument here is, using his name and century for commercial purposes, as claimed by the Shaw’s marketing company Baseline Ventures.
