I'm shocked that another company would buy the rights to the Pets.com puppet. Yes, the thing was briefly well recognized, but why would you want to spend marketing dollars on a failed brand, and associate your brand with it?
Here's an idea: For my next company I'll try to buy the rights to the image of Jar Jar Binks. That should go over well.
> I'm shocked that another company would buy the rights to the Pets.com puppet.
There's a precedent in the UK. A company in the UK that provided a digital television service ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_Digital ) used a monkey puppet to promote its service. Like Pets.com, it failed. Like Pets.com, the rights to the puppet now belong to another company.
The monkey puppet is now used to advertise tea. The tea company was famous for adverts featuring clothed chimpanzees dubbed to promote the brand ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PG_Tips#Advertising ). However, due to the advance of animal rights, the company now uses a monkey puppet which is widely recognised in the UK.
The rights to Jar Jar Binks would go for big money today. He's a cult figure now and would go a long way towards selling a product with a little self deprecating humor.
Here's an idea: For my next company I'll try to buy the rights to the image of Jar Jar Binks. That should go over well.