Following up with the last post about the "Get Real" campaign, it looks as if Herman Miller was not ready to stop at just 2d advertising and traditional media and wants to squash reproductions at their virtual begginings.

 

Herman Miller announced that it would be entering Second Life with help from Rivers Run Red.

 

Bringing authentic, authorized designs to Second Life, It will be offering a collection of 15 pieces for L$300-L$850, or approximately U.S. $1.40 to $3.50, but users that have bought knockoffs in the past will get the new pieces for free. … Those taking advantage of this limited-time, honor-based offer need only delete their old inventory and then “Get Real.”

The entire collection will be available exclusively at “Herman Miller Real Goods,” a virtual retail store within Avalon Island in Second Life.  Easy access to the Herman Miller Real Goods store can be had through www.hermanmiller.com/virtualworld. Existing Second Life residents can link directly to the in-world store, 

Visitors to Herman Miller Real Goods will be able to browse or buy the in-world designs, gather detailed info to product pages on Herman Miller's web site, or link to a real world listing of retailers and commercial dealers where they can purchase the actual pieces.

Apparently the people who have been creating these knockoffs in second life have been hearing from the companies lawyers:

"[W]e've contacted those parties and informed them of our trade dress protections, copyrights and trademarks they are infringing, asking politely but firmly that they cease and desist," the firm's pokesman, appropriately named MarkSchurman HermanMiller, tells me. "Some have complied, others have countered with proposed partnerships, and some have yet to respond."

Here are a few pictures from their virtual store and a link to their press release.  

"Check the Source" and "Check your Conscience".  These are a few of the headlines that HM used to kick off their "Get Real" campaign.

First launced at the 2003 International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), that took place in New York City.  The campaign is designed to alert consumers to the ethical and economic implications related to the purchase of design knock-offs, rather than supporting original designs and their designers.

The  "Get Real" arrives on the heels of recent developments that provide stricter legal protections to original, iconic Herman Miller designs.

Here is the original press release from Herman Miller: 

 

New York's 2003 International Contemporary Furniture Fair marks company launch of concerted campaign for awareness and education against knock-offs

Imitation has been called the sincerest form of flattery, but in the domain of furniture design it is deceptive to consumers and specifiers, damaging to the designers, manufacturers, and distributors of original designs, and inhibits new investments in innovation.

For many years Herman Miller, Inc., has been in the vanguard of a growing movement to promote the genuine articles--protecting both the unsuspecting buyer and the intellectual property rights of the original designer and manufacturer, while ensuring the commercial incentive for future innovations.

Herman Miller is taking its commitment to a new level with the launch of its "Get Real" campaign, an awareness and education program that will be the centerpiece of the company's presence at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, held May 17-20, 2003, at New York City's Javits Convention Center. Herman Miller, located in Booth 414 at the Javits, will be showing select furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Isamu Noguchi and Alvar Aalto. The Eames, Nelson and Noguchi designs are Herman Miller originals, dating from the company's collaboration with these acknowledged masters of American modernism. Herman Miller is the exclusive North American distributor of original Aalto designs through partnership with Artek, the legendary Finnish manufacturer of the extensive and celebrated Aalto collection.

"Since Herman Miller has such a storied and extensive design heritage, it stands to reason that we would be a leader in the campaign for authenticity," said Ray Kennedy, Director of Herman Miller for the Home. "Original design is the driving force behind Herman Miller's commitment to innovation--and everyone needs to recognize it is the lifeblood of a vital furniture industry."

Added Marg Mojzak, Senior Marketing Manager of Herman Miller for the Home: "Many consumers are simply unaware that they are buying knock-offs rather than the real thing. A component of the campaign is about equipping the buyer with the information he or she needs to identify whether the item is authentic. We also want to raise awareness of the important ethical and economic implications in supporting original designs and their designers."

The launch of Herman Miller's "Get Real" campaign at the ICFF exhibition comes amid recent legal developments affording "trade dress" protection to original, iconic Herman Miller designs. In November of 2002, the Noguchi Coffee Table, designed by Isamu Noguchi for Herman Miller in 1944, received this important legal distinction. In March 2003, Herman Miller received notice that the same powerful protection is also forthcoming for the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller in 1956. The United States Patent and Trademark Office recognizes these designs as synonymous with their original designers and manufacturer, and holds that a likeness of these designs cannot be produced or distributed in the U.S. by unauthorized parties.

"We're seeing case after case in which the designers and producers of original products, who have followed the prescribed intellectual property law registration procedures, are winning substantial settlements, judgments, and legal protections" noted Henry Gowin, Secretary of the Foundation for Design Integrity, a group of leading furniture designers, manufacturers and distributors that are dedicated to promoting the protection of original design. "The days when nothing could be done about knock-offs are over. The public is becoming increasingly aware of intellectual property protection (patents, trademarks, trade dress and copyrights) and the importance of supporting original design, while the knock-off producers are learning the consequences of infringement."

A series of advertisements created for Herman Miller's "Get Real" campaign urge readers to make an informed and ethical choice. The headlines invite the buyer to "Check the Source" and "Check your Conscience" as they contemplate the purchase of an original or a knock-off.

"Remember," implores one of the ads, "knock-offs don't pay royalties to the original designer. They aren't produced according to designer specifications. And they don't meet (Herman Miller's) standards of quality and durability. Now go, with a clear conscience, and get the real thing."

Herman Miller's ICFF exhibit will feature the Eames Lounge and Ottoman, Eames Molded Plywood chairs, Eames Storage Units, Eames Wire Chair with Bikini Pad, Nelson Marshmallow Sofa, Nelson Coconut Chair, Nelson Platform Bench, Noguchi Coffee Table, Aalto Tea Trolley 900, Aalto Stool 60 (in a special 70th Anniversary Edition in Curly Birch), among others--and all of them--to be sure--produced according to authorized specifications.

Below is a TV advertisment that was used along with the campaign.

I would try to tell you a little more background on the images, but the site they are located on is written entirely in Japanese.  From the looks of it, it might even be a Herman Miller showroom? or just a japanese business obsessed with pimping their office in Eames designs.  There are quite a few more images on their site if your interested: Wakuiworks.

This spotting comes from the blog http://blog.filife.com who posted about the financial planning company Ameriprise   

Using the LCW as their "Red Chair" in several commericals and promentatly integrating it onto their website.

Check out the Web integration HERE.

I thought this was a pretty funny post on modern furniture collectors on Stuff White People Like:

" When white people envision their dream home, a key part of the fantasy involves a least one piece of furniture designed by a famous architect from the 1930s."

"

If they are able to acquire this prized furniture, they will forever refer to it only by the designers name. “I spend hours in the van der Rohe, just looking through these beautiful books of his work.”

Referring to a white person’s expensive chair as a ‘chair’ is considered poor form and will likely result in a loss of trust and/or respect."

Read the whole post.  

 Eames Lounge

The Eames lounge chair has appeared on the television series House M.D. The chair and ottoman features in Dr. House's apartment, and also a corduroy-upholstered model in his office.

The Eames Lounge Chair also frequented the set of the NBC sitcom Frasier.

" Frasier: So what do you think with what I've done with the place, You know, every item here was carefully selected. The lamp by Corbu, this chair by Eames, and this couch is an exact replica of the one Coco Chanel had in her Paris atelier."

The chair also appeared in Massive Attack's video for the song Inertia Creeps.

Stewie Griffin explicitly announces the chair in Family Guy Video Game!, and upon sitting in it, remarks: "oh my, this chair is orgasmic! I hope these diapers absorb semen."

In the Steely Dan song "The Things I Miss The Most" one of the missed things along with the Audi TT is the "comfy Eames Chair".

Adam Sandler Movie: Click   Pictured Here  

In CLICK, Adam Sandler plays a successful architect, partner in a prosperous architecture firm, on track to run the company one day. His “signifier” is an Eames 670 rosewood and black leather lounge chair

Eames Aluminum Group 

Movie: Down With Love

NyTimes: Article  

THE LAKE HOUSE: Keanu Reeves is a struggling architect. His “signifier” is also an EAMES CHAIR, a DAX, dining height, plastic armshell with the cross-rod, “h base,” 

movie called "Gattica" has lots of modern stuff in it! Eames Soft Pad Group chair

ames chairs in the movie "The Big Lebowski"

Daddy Longlegs...Fred Astaire playing drums in an Eames DAX chair and surrounded by Knoll & Herman Miller furniture.

episode of VIP starring Pamela Lee Anderson with a couple of Eames LCW chairs featured ... a bomb gets strapped to the underside of one of the chairs that Pamela and some guy have been tied-up to

MOONRAKER, 1979. Roger Moore, (unfortunately, not Sean) as James Bond. Near the beginning of the movie, they have lots of white high-back Eames lounge chairs

movie, "8 Heads in a Duffle Bag", starring Joe Pesci has an Eames Tandem Armshell seating unit in the airport scene.

Eames and other great modernism seen in "The Long walk home" the Whoopi Golberg