Sleazy Snooki Becomes 'Unbranding' Icon

By Alyson Shontell and Adam Fusfeld for Business Insider

Poor Shnookums. The top marques in luxury are "unbranding" themselves from her and she just lost a catfight -- to a fictional cat.

Jersey Shore train wreck Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi tried to trademark her nickname, including for use in books, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office already granted a fictional feline the rights back in 2004.

Snooky the Cat apparently has his own line of books, Adventures of Snooky, from Brian J. Publishing. The trademark office fears there would be a "likelihood of confusion" between Snooky and Snooki, leaving Polizzi opposing the office's decision and on the prowl for a way to defeat the same-named feline.

According to Nina Kaufman, a legal blogger for Entrepreneur.com, "Too many entrepreneurs jump into the trademark pool with both feet. They don't check to see whether they'll be landing atop someone else's head ... in which case all of the money they've pumped into logos, websites, text and marketing initiatives may need to be scrapped."

Meanwhile, the fashion labels that have long sent celebrities their latest accessories for free in hopes of generating positive publicity -- a classic PR move -- are rethinking the strategy in reaction to a new breed of celebrity that serves as society's punching bag rather than its role model.

As Simon Doonan of The New York Observer explains:

"Remember how Snooki, drunk or sober, was never seen without that Coach(COH) bag dangling from the crook of her arm? ... But then the winds of change started blowing on Jersey Shore. Every photograph of Guido-huntin' Snooki showed her toting a new designer purse. Why the sudden disloyalty? Was she trading up? Was she vomiting into her purses and then randomly replacing them? The answer is much more intriguing," Doonan writes.

"Allegedly, the anxious folks at these various luxury houses are all aggressively gifting our gal Snookums with free bags. No surprise, right? But here's the shocker: They are not sending her their own bags. They are sending her each other's bags! Competitors' bags!" he says. "The bottom line? Nobody in fashion wants to co-brand with Snooki."

Fashion labels are using sneaky tactics to ensure their luxury items aren't associated with sleazy celebrities. Call it "unbranding."

Keep that in mind the next time you go pick up that bag you saw Snooki rock on last week's Jersey Shore.

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