Mackenzie Golf Bags

[Maverickping]

I used to be in advertising and one of the last things I did was check with legal counsel to make certain there would be no problems (there never was either). If anyone watches commercials etc there is always a very hot commercial/soundtrack and then some do a little different style but it is easy to see where their inspiration came from... This is advertising and most people can accept it.

 

This though irritates me and I hope these guys are going to get taken to the cleaners or the back shed, whatever is easier or comes first

 

 

http://mckennon-mackenziegolf.com/

[Tony Covey MGS]

I don't know Maverick. I think McKennon made some poor decisions (didn't have to use a woefully similar URL), but that doesn't mean MacKenzie should have exclusive rights to the leather golf bag market anymore than TaylorMade should have exclusive rights to adjustable drivers, or Miura forged irons.

 

Quite frankly I think the author of the website you provided has a little bit of a bug up his backside, and I don't see where he bothered to contact Mr. McKennon for his side of the story, or even for a tiny amount of background info. Google appears to be his only source.

 

Full disclosure, McKennon (who started his company after leaving Nike's golf division) has produced a bag for MyGolfSpy. He has also produced bags for the Travis Mathew Apparel Company, Rickie Fowler, Davis Love, Lucas Glover, and President Obama.

 

My point is the website wants to portray McKennon as a dishonest company trading off somebody else's name, but the guy's name is actually McKennon. More importantly he's not misleading anyone into buying an inferior product. The level of quality and craftsmanship that goes into his bag is beyond repute.

[Maverickping]

My point is the website wants to portray McKennon as a dishonest company trading off somebody else's name, but the guy's name is actually McKennon. More importantly he's not misleading anyone into buying an inferior product. The level of quality and craftsmanship that goes into his bag is beyond repute.

 

Well, you are about the only person who I've seen that feels this way which is certainly fine. Fairly confident he has a quality product but "most" feel it was a rip-off.

The rest you posted about is a semantics 101 class.

[GolfSpy_X]

Well, you are about the only person who I've seen that feels this way which is certainly fine. Fairly confident he has a quality product but "most" feel it was a rip-off.

The rest you posted about is a semantics 101 class.

 

 

I think if you have talked to Mike McKennon as much as I have and asked these exact questions you would understand where he is coming from and why he chose to do what he did. But maybe not. Maybe we should have him come on here to explain.

[Maverickping]

I think if you have talked to Mike McKennon as much as I have and asked these exact questions you would understand where he is coming from and why he chose to do what he did. But maybe not. Maybe we should have him come on here to explain.

 

Actually, if you are thinking of doing this on my behalf don't bother as I can't see myself being around here anyways. Others might be interested though.

[Tony Covey MGS]

My point is the website wants to portray McKennon as a dishonest company trading off somebody else's name, but the guy's name is actually McKennon. More importantly he's not misleading anyone into buying an inferior product. The level of quality and craftsmanship that goes into his bag is beyond repute.

 

Well, you are about the only person who I've seen that feels this way which is certainly fine. Fairly confident he has a quality product but "most" feel it was a rip-off.

The rest you posted about is a semantics 101 class.

 

I was actually going to come back here this morning and basically strikethrough everything I wrote last night. As I told another earlier, the benefit of a night's sleep has provided me with a little bit more perspective, My initial response was a case of type first, think later.

 

A couple of points:

• McKennon makes an absolutely beautiful, well-crafted bag. His craftsmanship is beyond question.
• You, me, McKennon, anybody has the right to make a leather carry bag. McKenzie doesn't have an exclusive claim to the market.
• The creator of the McKennon-Mckenzie site completely lost me by not actually bothering to, or at least indicate that he had spoken to any of the parties involved (a point I'm guilty of myself). Also the simple fact that he would make even the slightest suggestion that Mr McKennon is bad father, husband, whatever, because he doesn't agree with his marketing practices. No matter what your argument, families, in any context should remain off limits.

That said, you're right. Quality isn't the issue here. There are some fortunate coincidences, his name is actually McKennon, and he does actually live in Oregon. But it also seems as if he's taken those two happy coincidences and used them to create an unsavory marketing opportunity, which is almost certainly intentionally confusing.

 

The bothersome thing, I suppose, is that given the quality of his product, he didn't really need to piggyback on an established brand. There are plenty of guys (James Patrick, Patrick Gibbons as two examples) who have been successful without resorting to at best questionable marketing practices.

 

He's got a right to use his name, but if there was a guy named Bill Tyler, and he started the TylerMade Golf company, made a high-quality product, and offered to repair TaylorMade golf equipment free of charge, I'd be all over him. When I gave it some additional thought, I couldn't really see how what McKennon has done is different.

[GolfSpy_X]

Understand where you are coming from...but I would be more than happy to reach out to him to see if he would make a statement. I honestly only heard his side when he was making the bag for us...and seemed to make sense but I don't have any stake in either company and don't follow them very closely so I am definitely not the one to know the dirty details and truths of this matter.

 

 

Actually, if you are thinking of doing this on my behalf don't bother as I can't see myself being around here anyways. Others might be interested though.

[Tha Living Legend]

I would much rather have a MacKenzie bag than a McKennon. To me, McKennon reminds me of that fast food joint in the movie coming to America. That guys name was McDowell but he definitely made his restaurant look like McDonalds.

 

Having said that, MacKenzie did not legally protect their intellectual properties so they are the ones to blame for the similarities between McKennon.

 

It's like leaving a Rolex on a street corner and blaming the person who picks it up.

[d.lama]

I used to be in advertising and one of the last things I did was check with legal counsel to make certain there would be no problems (there never was either). If anyone watches commercials etc there is always a very hot commercial/soundtrack and then some do a little different style but it is easy to see where their inspiration came from... This is advertising and most people can accept it.

 

This though irritates me and I hope these guys are going to get taken to the cleaners or the back shed, whatever is easier or comes first

 

 

http://mckennon-mackenziegolf.com/

 

So has this guy bothered to contact either company or is he just being crotchety?

[drbloor]

I think if you have talked to Mike McKennon as much as I have and asked these exact questions you would understand where he is coming from and why he chose to do what he did. But maybe not. Maybe we should have him come on here to explain.

 

Yeah, I'd be particularly interested in the decision making process behind his choice of URLs. Quite frankly, in my book the fact that his product isn't an inferior ripoff is pretty much irrelevant when you're blatantly trying to trade off someone else's name and reputation.

 

I look forward to the next MGS review in which you shred TaylorMade for ripping off someone else's technology without crediting it in their promotional materials.