Will we be wearing WeHo t-shirts soon? That depends on whether the City Council decides Monday to authorize commercial use of the city’s logo.
The decision follows a request by Larry Block, owner of the Block Party store in WeHo’s Boystown, to use the logo on various items that his store would sell during next month’s Gay Pride festivities. Block launched a sometimes heated debate with city officials over the city’s decision to remove the rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBT rights, from City Hall last year. The debate about whether to fly that flag on City Hall was resolved when the city decided to use a version of its logo that incorporates the gay flag colors. That is the logo Block wants to license.
One option that will be presented to the Council is to enter an agreement with Blanks2go Inc. to produce miniature flags, refrigerator magnets and postcards with the city logo. Under a proposal to be presented to the Council, there would only be 5,000 copies of each item. Blanks2go would pay the city ten cents for each item produced. Another option would be to reach out to multiple manufacturers and ask them to bid on using the city logo on products. The Council may also reject allowing commercial use of the logo.
The Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday (a half hour later than usual) at 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. south of Santa Monica.
People want FREE hand out rainbow flags, just like every other event. The city flag looks like a surrender flag from a distance. Not a good sight from the news helicopter.
Stick flags with the city logo should be FREE giveaway “swag”…..I’d prefer a free t-shirt. (XL please)
The host city should be giving this cheesy stuff away as a promotion. It’ll put the crowd in a good mood.
This is a non-exclusive, limited production, license. And its expiration is at the end of this year. It does not include t shirts. It is for hand stick flags, magnets and postcards if needed. The fee is based on units produced, not sales of product. On a cost factor of anywhere from .50 cents to $1 per unit the license fee is equal to 10% or more of the cost. The city also has the right to purchase units at cost for their own needs. The goal was to have these flags for gay pride so the many people and… Read more »
If you want to have a t shirt with the City’s logo, cut and paste it on Vista print and order all you want for 12 bucks each. you are not violation copyright laws as long as you are not selling them or making money from it. the t shirt business is very lucrative with HUGE markup.
I would suggest putting it out for competitive bid if they approve the licensing. Don’t just approve whatever Larry Block wants. 10 cents seems low to me.
I worked for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce when they first started licensing the Hollywood Sign and Walk of Fame. It is not easy. They went through many pin ideas and other paraphernalia before approving them. It is not an easy process. To just rubber stamp Larry’s ideas would be a bad idea.