We recently got some updates regarding the TEALIVE vs MUTHA PUAKA matter as the local clothing brand recently went took to their social media platforms to give an update regarding what is happening. TEALIVE has responded back to MP saying that the line “Never Fear The Strong” is an original line coined by their creative team, TBWA Kuala Lumpur. But MP went on to claim that some personnel within TBWA know of MP and have purchased their products with the brand’s motto “Never Bully The Weak, Never Fear The Strong” clearly printed on them. Read the full statement below.
Tealive has responded and claims that the line ‘Never Fear The Strong’ is an original line coined by their creative team. We know that their creative agency is TBWA Kuala Lumpur.
In response to that, our lawyer sent a letter to the Chief Operating Officer of TBWA, Ms Hui Tsin Yee, to ask if they maintain the same position. Now, like Loob did before, they are ignoring us, despite having our contact details.
Key people in TBWA are well aware of Mutha Puaka. Personnel from TBWA are known to have purchased our t-shirt with the motto printed clearly on the back.
The crux of the Tealive brand manifesto is taken directly from Mutha Puaka. We created the motto ‘Never Bully The Weak, Never Fear The Strong’, and have used that motto in merchandise since 2014. We have no problem with them being inspired by our motto, but to use the exact phrase ‘Never Fear The Strong’ is plain lazy, and wrong. ‘Never Fear The Strong, Especially Strong Tea’? Come on. There are so many ways they could have crafted a slogan inspired by our motto. For example, ‘Fear Not Strong Tea’. Or a colloquial version could be, ‘Strong Tea, Scared What?” Was it necessary to copy the line ‘Never Fear The Strong’ word for word? Adding the words ‘Especially Strong Tea’ to our motto isn’t creative. It is just plain lazy.
An agency as celebrated as TBWA could do much better than to rip off Mutha Puaka’s concept and motto and then sell the idea to Loob Holdings.
Our lawyer has also sent a letter to Chatime’s lawyers asking for details of their ongoing case. As a small outfit being bullied by large corporations, we will be careful in deciding when to take our fight to the Courts.
Never Fear The Strong. Mutha Puaka coined it. Mutha Puaka lives by it.
It seems that Loob Holdings have pushed the blame to TBWA in regards to the issue of copying MP’s motto, and its looking like another party might be added into this fight.
If you want to follow this matter closely, do follow Mutha Puaka on their Instagram account & Facebook page, or alternatively you can just stay tuned to this site as we will be updating once we get more info.
