Tiny Treasury

When I was a kid in the 80s, I used to love those Choose Your Own Adventure books. You remember the ones… They were paperback books where the reader had the chance to determine the outcome of the characters by making choices about what happens next.

The Choose Your Own Adventure series was actually launched a year before the 80s, in 1979 by Bantam Books. Since that time, almost 200 CYOA book titles have been published worldwide totaling about 250 million books.

In 2003, the series went out of print. In response, R. A. Montgomery, the creator of the original series, decided to bring the series back. Together with his wife, he formed a new company, Chooseco, in 2004, in order to relaunch the series.

In 2006, a number of the books were re-launched, complete with a face lift to add to the appeal; new titles for the series are being released in 2007. CYOA also added even more endings for its existing stories which can be found on the company’s web site. To find the endings, readers have to engage in a series of interactive puzzles and games (my personal junior high nirvana). And if that wasn’t enough technology for you, the company has made one of its books, The Abominable Snowman, available as an iPod audio download.

Additional series were added to the publishing mix including a younger series (the Dragonlarks) for elementary school-aged children and The Golden Path, an illustrated, interactive seven-book fantasy epic packaged with collectible cards.

In other words, CYOA is picking up its game. And folks are taking notice. Or are they?

Clearly, the ad guys at DaimlerChrysler haven’t been paying attention or they might not have chosen a “Choose Your Own Adventure” ad campaign to trademark for their new Jeep Patriot. The ad campaign includes print and TV ads, as well as an interactive web site and movie. As a result, Mr. Montgomery and Chooseco LLC announced today that they have filed suit against DaimlerChrysler, BBDO Detroit, Organic and Marvel Entertainment for trademark infringement. Chooseco is also seeking an injunction against DaimlerChrysler and its advertising partners to prevent them from continuing to use the trademark in its ad campaign. Chooseco’s prior requests that Daimler Chrysler, BBDO, Organic Interactive and Marvel cease and desist the use of th trademark have been denied.

According to their press release, Chooseco publisher Shannon Gilligan maintains:

The misappropriation of the Choose Your Own Adventure mark by Jeep is particularly harmful as Choose Your Own Adventure books have also promoted interactive adventure and active lifestyles for boys and girls for over 20 years. The series maintains a large fan base of original readers who are now in the exact demographic Jeep targets. An internal market study done by one of our licensees indicated a 75% recognition rate of the Choose Your Own Adventure brand among 25-35 year olds. Choose Your Own Adventure has enormously positive associations for these young consumers. This Jeep ad campaign is a gross abuse of our brand.

It will be interesting to see what happens next. On the one hand, I wouldn’t expect that this would be a battle worth fighting for DaimlerChrysler. On the other hand, they might enjoy the boost in publicity that they will surely get for the new campaign, which was just launched two weeks ago.

One would guess that, somewhere in a cubicle at Jeep headquarters, there’s a storyboard marking out their options. If they choose option a… Stay tuned.

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Choose Your Own Adventure, Jeep, DaimlerChrysler, Patriot, Chooseco