Kentucky Fried Chemist, a photo from Almaty, East

Photographer's Note

My previous post of a KFC sign defacing the beautiful Baroque façades of Brasov’s Piaţa Sfatului, reminded me of this sign that I saw in Almaty a few years ago on the front of a pharmacy - or ‘chemist’ as they say in the UK (drugstore in the US).

Someone must have thought that Colonel Sanders looked more like a doctor than a chicken farmer.

Trademark theft is common in quite a long list of developing countries, where there are no intellectual property laws yet to prevent businesses using other people’s trademarks, but I wouldn’t have thought that Kazakhstan would be on that list. Maybe using only the Colonel’s visage doesn’t count as trademark theft, but I am sure it is a breach of some sort of copyright.

I’ve posted in the WS another example of trademark theft in Myanmar. No prizes for guessing whose trademark it is!

ChrisJ, pboehringer, richwm, capthaddock, plimrn, batalay, kevinos, bhuniatrekearth, bakes888, linask, nata, ychennay, jurarafal, cyrrhus, Traveller, mark88, dhananjay_sutar heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

vagabondtravels (6511) 2007-05-28 9:46

Hi David

Complain all you want about copyright infrindgement but living in Asia does have it's benefits. I haven't bought a "real" cd,dvd,xbox game, etc for the past decade. umm my CS2 might have been a pirated copy I got off a friend from this site but umm i don't know. Anyhow just being funny like the image you found here. There isn't a care for copyright infrindgement in a developing nation, but why should there be? they have other things to worry about. I still can't believe that school principle in Russia got fined a years salary for using an illegal copy of windows!!
Well done.
Ben

ChrisJ (171822) 2007-05-28 11:08

Hi David

Good daily life scene with vibrant colour & superb sharpness & lighting contrasts. Not sure what to expect in west Mongolia after seeing this! (Kazakhstan adjoins west Mongolia).

scalerman (26900) 2007-05-28 14:10

David: immediately funny - I think they must've just culled some images for someone who looked officially believable. c

pboehringer (770) 2007-05-29 15:28

Funny documentarism of the trademark theft. I must admit that Col. Sanders looks much better as a pharmacist, although I'm not quite sure if it makes him look to be providing something more healthy than his fried chickens.

capthaddock (28790) 2007-05-31 16:58

Hi David - Oh my how funny is this, not much of a photo but the humour contained is priceless.

plimrn (21344) 2007-06-01 10:33

Hi David,
Considering how Colonel Sanders has always struck me as a huge phony, how apt tyo see him as a chemist. I'm glad you told me that I couldn't visit Mynamar. It had been moving up mon my list of places to visit from the notes and photos I'd seen on TE. How nice of this government to protect me. HLJ, Pat

kensimage (8563) 2007-06-02 16:23

Perhaps they sell viagra that's "finger lickin' good" (KFC's slogan in the US), though "finger" may be the wrong concept here.

Anyway, it's an amusing shot. I guess icons just spread around the world the same way fashion does. Now if KFC ever moves into Kazakhstan, people will think, "I'm supposed to buy chicken from a chemist company? What, are there drugs in the chicken?" Such are the travails of the marketing business I guess.

Regards, Ken.

Stepan (27210) 2007-06-03 13:37 [Comment]

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batalay (41261) 2007-06-07 6:38

Hello David,

What an astonishing juxtaposition of Colonel Sanders and an apothecary/pharmacy/chemist/drugstore. I cannot imagine that Kentucky Fried Chicken would mind, 'lest they also sell deep fried chicken in their establishment. You do have a good eye for the unusual. I remember well the photo you took of the poster in the underground in Berlin, "46 euros for a cuddle."

Incidentally, in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia (50 miles south of Washington, DC), where I live, is the oldest surviving shop in this genre, "Hugh Mercer's Apothecary." Hugh Mercer was a Scottish physcian, and a close friend of George Washington. George Washington took Mercer as his surgeon general (not necessarily by that title). In the Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, Mercer was mortally wounded; but the county around the great American university, Princeton, gets its name from his.

Warm regards,
Bulent

kevinos (7517) 2007-06-07 13:01

A very decorative and amusing shot, David and an interesting insight into the life of Kazakhstan. You make it look like an interesting place to go. I must look up any air fare deals. regards kevin

richwm (1215) 2007-06-08 8:28

Hi David,

As a graphic designer I am very aware of copyright infriengments and trademark theft. Whether it be logos, names or images, it plays a great role in my chosen career. When is a design influenced by another design and when is it just a blatant rip-off of it? I think it's safe to say that you couldn't argue very convincingly that this pharmacy logo doesn't fall rather directly into the 'complete rip-off' category! And as if there aren't too many KFC logos in this world already!

Your workshop photo reminds me of a story I heard about 3 years ago about a restaurant owner in Scotland who's surname is McDonald (a Scottish name, as I'm sure you know) and who had, for about 30 years, called his restaurant "McDonalds". McDonalds the fast-food chain took him to court and won and this chap was told he had to change the name of his restaurant to something different despite the fact that his restaurant was established in Scotland long before McDonalds became the global household name it's now become and despite the fact that 'McDonald' is, and always has been, his surname! Incidentally, I saw pictures of the signage for his restaurant and it was quite obviously a traditional restaurant which bore absolutely no resemblance to a fast-food joint so he could hardly be accused of misconception. A really bizarre case of copyright theft there!

Anyway, technically not a brilliant photo but worthy of two points for spotting the sign and making me laugh so much. Cheers, David!

Regards from England,

Rich

bhuniatrekearth (764) 2007-06-10 12:15

Dear David,
You have surfaced a controversy but policing such issues are really difficult.
Thanks
Dr. J.

bakes888 (18499) 2007-06-12 3:59

Hi David. Well spotted, well captured and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

Polonaise (5802) 2007-07-11 15:36

"If you don't find it photographically attractive - make sure it has some message in it..."
You just did that, dear friend...
When i'm frustrated by the idiocy of TE, I come to your site to calm down and relax, knowing that I'll be surrounded by decent and honest photography.

Bless your soul, David .
g.

Steft (6109) 2007-07-27 6:46

Hi David,
Yesterday I saw the movie Borat, the journalist from Kazachstan, but you have really been in this country (so that you know the film is very unrealistic - if you have seen it).

Intresting photo of daily life. It's not so very sharp, but I like it a lot.

Regards,
Stef

nata (488) 2007-08-15 23:00

HiDavid,
very interesting picture with a very intersting note.
It did really make me laugh! I don't think thatmany people in KZ know whom this face is associated with:-)
Wonderful business solution.
Anyway, nice picture. TFS
nata

bigboroboy (1098) 2007-09-15 21:40

Technically nowhere near as strong as anything in your gallery but at the same time it is engaging because of the content. Well spotted. Did you snap it from a vehicle or something or did you have more ime to compose the shot. You shots are nearly always superbly composed I wonder why this one isn't. Thanks for sharing, PHIL

eyewitness (2) 2007-10-02 2:48 [Comment]

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amino (440) 2008-05-28 5:29

Hi David,

This is one of the funniest pictures and I am used to seeing similar pics like that. For me, it gives a sense of humour regarding copyrights. Yes, this must have been a protected logo, but again, these people, with less money and access to information, aer bound to try and come up with an attractive promo.

Thanks for sharing. The value of this picture is to share some sense of humour with people on copyrights. I cannot see this guy being punished by WTO.

cheers

kloppenborg (977) 2008-05-28 6:09

Hi David,

Thanks for sharing this funny image and for sparking a debate, which usually creates heated arguments.

I did my fieldwork at Shanghai's Xiangyang market; one of the largest markets for copies of Western luxury goods, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc. As I followed the rural migrants, who make a living in Shanghai by selling these copies, it is hard to pitty the multinational corporations, who make gigantic amounts from adding values to commodities, produced in developing countries, simply by adding their logo.

Meanwhile, your image perfectly shows the ambiguous processes of globalization, and the ways in which the "foreign" is incorporated into the local. I think in China, there has been a case with the copying of the Colonel Sanders face by a Chinese fast-food chain, calling him "uncle ..something".
One thing we have to remember in the discussion is that IPRs essentially represents a Western legal tradition and Western interests. In China - as well as most former socialist countries, developing countries, subsistence economies, etc. - the idea of private ownership of creations and inventions does not have a local history and is considered foreign, and sometimes even "immoral".

Anyway, thanks for remining us about the great diversity of the process of globalization.

Henrik

serp2000 (47063) 2008-07-23 9:32

Privet, David,
Very fanny shot, 'cos I speak Russian and I know KFS brand. An international joke. Good work! Excellent colours! TFS!
Greetings from Ural,
Serghei

out_of_focus (73) 2009-12-03 14:38

Haha, one of those pics, when technical aspects do not really matter, the siutation is hilarious and interesting itself. :D