As the MBAs travel the world, I am seeing more and more examples of the random nature of legal restrictions in different countries. These recent examples where snipped by Ralph in China.

The brand with the 3 blobs.

First we have what looks like an imitation of adidas. Clearly the Chinese have no way either of controlling this blantant imitation, or of responding to the complaints of foreign companies who, in many other countries of the world, would sue for damages in court under laws against passing off.

Impossible is, well, this…

Then we have a bizarre mixture of copycat Chinese branding. The symbol at the top is supposed to be like the Nike tick. I’m prepared to admit that I didn’t recognise it. As Ralph rightly points out, the thickness of the line has been reversed. The slogan below is, however, one that reminded me of something… the adidas slogan “impossible is nothing” (which by the way is hated by many native speakers of English as it breaks syntax conventions).

What a mixture of brands. And what ridiculous copying. Even if the Chinese have decided to state, in good English, “Anything is possible” – which with the relaxed copyright laws in China, I think I have to agree with.