Bond No. 9: An End to Peace on Earth and Don't Go Down by My Riverside

[Natural_Juice]

Sometimes, when a Goliath seeks to stomp on a little David, you can only have a sense of humor. Sure, when Lizz Zorn received a letter threatening litigation if she continued to use the name "Peace on Earth" for one of her perfumes http://parfumemoderne.blogspot.com/2...-on-earth.html

I received a similar letter last year for my perfume "Riverside." Just warning any perfumers reading this you better get clearance from Laurice Rahme et al before you launch a perfume. Funny, though, I haven't heard of her going after Avon's Peace perfume, or any of a huge number of other bigger companies using Peace or Riverside in the names. Oh, just realized I was the only one besides Bond No. 9 using the name.

Well, it's all OK in the end. Liz refuses to go to war over Peace. I discontinued Riverside and sent a zingy letter to the attorney because she said Rahme had "notoriety" in her letter. LOL.

Sometimes David just laughs at Goliath and moves on.

PS I'm not real familiar with forum rules -- can this be posted in female fragrance?

[the non blonde]

This has made me incredibly angry. I hope I did my part in spreading the word:
http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com/200...saved-230.html

[Scentronic]

More proof that Bond no.9 is not really concerned with making quality product - just making money.

I've always viewed Bond as an overhyped line "produced" by a bunch of snooty rich women that have their heads so far up their asses that they can't see that their company and products suck.

They've released 32 fragrances in four years, all of which try and capitalize on some aspect of the glitz and glamour of New York city. The bottles look like cheap carnival prizes and just about every blend is an annoying mess.

Hey Bond - Fuck you.
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I'm getting more and more fired up over this by the minute.

Hey, Laurice - If you're worth half the bag of vomit your scents seem to be inspired by, then you're reading this post, as the fragrance afficionado you are...but I highly doubt it. But if you are, then you should be coming after ME instead, because from now on, I'm going to do my absolute best to slander your company's reputation - not that I could do much better at this than YOU already are. You and your fragrances are a wothless, uninspired byproduct of the industry, and represent all that is soulless and wrong about modern culture.
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Just in case anyone else feels as strongly as I do about this, I'm going to post (relay) this telephone number here, so that you may share your feelings with the people responsible for this ridiculous mess.

1-877-273-3369

Laurice Rahme's extension is 12.

I just hung up from leaving a message for her about what uninspired crap her fragrances are and how pathetic her company is for going after the little guy like this. I told her that she's got her head up her ass and I hope she goes out of business.

Sorry. Sometimes the wrong button gets pushed, and this "ugly side" of me can come out.

[Kahuna Cowboy]

Wow, totally ridiculous.

Peace is such a generic word. Considering most of Bond's line is named after places, streets, neighborhoods, and popular culture of NYC they have no business going after anyone for originality of a name.

[leopoldo]

Count me in amongst the Bond-hating band. Utterly offensive behaviour. A bully, quite obviously.

[The Duke]

Gross and detestable behavior on the part of a company that has not had an original idea since its inception.

[fredricktoo]

Should NYC and the UN get in touch with Laurice Rahme and get some kind of a guarantee that their continued use of these names and phrases will be litigation free?

This sort of lunacy is contemptible.

Hopefully her next release will be called "Bellvue" after a few weeks stay at their behavioral health unit.

[Natural_Juice]

This has made me incredibly angry. I hope I did my part in spreading the word:
http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com/200...saved-230.html

Thank you so much. I just saw the link to your blog from Andy Tauer's and followed it back here.

[Natural_Juice]

More proof that Bond no.9 is not really concerned with making quality product - just making money.


Sorry. Sometimes the wrong button gets pushed, and this "ugly side" of me can come out.

Ah, I love the smell of testosterone in the morning ;-)

[Scentronic]

Honest to God, I woke up this morning and this was THE very first thing that went through my mind!

I'm cooling off a bit now, but I'm still extremely disturbed and upset about this. It is a perfect example of the mindset that I believe to be cheapening society.

[the_good_life]

The nerve of an outfit built on xeroxing Creeds etc....
Never has interested me and now it never ever will.
Bad PR move, too. Really really bad.

[libertine]

I would totally contact the media, tell them what a bunch of cunts Bond No 9 are! They don't own 'Peace'.

[Scentronic]

LMAO now!

[scentemental]

Yeah, I always thought a keen sense of irony was Bond No. 9 New York's strongest point.

scentemental

[tvlampboy]

Perhaps the estate of Leonard Bernstein oughta go after Laurice for her use of the name "West Side."
Or perhaps Givenchy ought to sue her for having blatantly ripped off the old Gentleman formula in the making of H.O.T. Always.
(OK, now I'm just bitching.)

[Healer]

It's all a bit cheeky coming from a company that ripped off several Creed scents. Can't say it surprises me the way these companies bully the smaller outfits though as you read about cases like this in all sorts of places (eg. the ebay vs perfume bay case). So did they buy the rights to use the word peace in fragrance marketing from Kenzo then (thinking of Time For Peace here)?
On a lighter note - I think you should tell them to Peace Off

Andy

[MonkeyManMatt]

Wow... What douchebags - incredible. And yes it is hardly surprising
that it´s a company like Bond no 9 that pursues this type of behaviour.

Last time I checked they based about 75% of their portfolio n Creed scents.
Funny how they´re taking legal action in against copying...
Pathetic. Was never impressed by most of their stuff and count me in
as well in never purchasing any of it in the future.

//mmm
--------------------------------------
Here´s their contact:
contactus@bondno9.com

I really think people should e-mail them and explain that this type
of behaviour is far from okay.


//mmm

[jaelynn]

Sometimes the best way to deal with overweening hubris like this is not to preach in righteous indignation.

Often it's best to just open open a big ole can of Campbells Mockity-Mock with Beans. Seriously, let the media outlets you know of know about it - wherever the NYC retail or social "scene" is covered. What of the more sophisticated outlets isn't going to at least get a good staff laugh over the thing - if not disseminating the information in suitably snarky tones to a greater audience? Will Mme Rahme be able to hold her head up walking down the street if whoever has the contacts or resources to marshal it up, can actually push the point'n'laugh train out of the station?

There are some things best served up nicely chilled with snark-cubes.

I've tipped racked.com (covers the NYC retail scene) as well as Jezebel.com (snarkaliciously covers fashion/celebrity/etc) already. We'll see if they decide to pick it up. I'd also like to see more of the mainstream fragrance bloggers say something as well. Everyone but everyone spoke up when the decant banhammer fell on ebay..... just sayin' .......

[Scentronic]

Snark cubes? Mockity-mock? Overweening Hubris? Laugh train? Banhammer?

Are you Dr. Seuss?

[jaelynn]

Snark cubes? Mockity-mock? Overweening Hubris? Laugh train? Banhammer?

Are you Dr. Seuss?

No.... but let it be a warning that this is what happens when one attempts to post after dousing oneself in Eau de Vicodin because it feels like all the Whos in Whoville are taking jackhammers to ones spine.

[Leifer]

Buddhist monks and Nirvana-seekers beware, "peace" is no longer available to the public to be used. (Laurice Rahmes, please don't sue me for typing those letters in succession!!!!)

Someone alert Hollywood -- for James Bond will have a fit when he realizes his manly name is now the butt of a shitty line of fragrances, whose self-image is so pretentious and ego is so catastrophically huge, that the wallets of its creators have to be protected by bullshit legal threats over a word like "Peace" in a scent. You know, I was seriously going to buy some samples of B#9 fragrances, but now I'm not going to. I don't want to wear the low-class creations of snobby, egotistical bitches. I'll leave them a voicemail too.

[zztopp]

I appreciate strong-willed business women but if this is true, then Rahme has gone too far.

I always thought Rahme should go out on a date with Lutens....its a match made in narcissistic heaven.

[Stuffman]

Someone needs to come out with a fragrance called "Bond Street," which itself would be a copy of one of B#9's facsimiles. Before you know it, you'll have Rahme up your ass with lawyers, but go to trial and contest that it's simply named after the street, just like Bond's products (unless of course, they've already copyrighted every street name and area of NYC). If I had the money, I'd do this myself.

I can't say Bond's fragrances are all bad, in fact, I quite like New Haarlem and a few others. The problem is, nothing about these fragrances scream "quality" besides their slightly longer longevity. I simply can't justify $200 on a bottle of New Haarlem, but I have no problem spending that on Creed's Acier Aluminum (okay, I can get that a bit cheaper) or Malle's Musc Ravageur. Both of those scents have quality and originality in spades. Bond is alright, but it's got neither of those qualities.

But after this, I'd only have Bond in my collection if it were given to me.
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Or better yet: Peace on Bond St.

[tigers1901]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Anya.

I've tried some of the Bond scents at Saks since they first arrived, and each time I've concluded that they're poorly blended and hastily conceived (fine oils notwithstanding). Nonetheless, I always kept an open mind that maybe someday there'd be one I'd get excited about. But over time, I've found more and more qualities about Ms. Rahme that have lessened by interest in Bond - the rip-offs of Creed fragrances, the sales of grey market Creeds to make Creed appear cheap, the frequent, endless releases and counter clutter at Saks, and the increasingly garish bottles. The presence of Bond at Saks, in fact, is the main reason Creed does not offer their LEs (Fleurs de Gardenia, Amalfi Flowers) to most Saks stores, which is a great disappointment to those of us who'd love to smell them. This legal claim is finally enough to make me ignore the Bond line forever. Besides, it's disgusting how many fine fragrance lines Saks discontinued to make room for the tacky and gimmicky Bond. I'm probably going to ignore Saks too, while I'm at it, until they choose to be the quality, discerning department store they once were.

[tmp00]

I'd also like to see more of the mainstream fragrance bloggers say something as well.

well, I am not one of the mainstream bloggers but I got a response (as did Gaia) to my blog about it..



http://pansysrants.blogspot.com/2008...ou-to-die.html

[silverbullet]

If those stinkin ass monkey hunchin twatlers were male, I'd kick there f**king
derriere's so bad their dogs would bark all night long

[fredricktoo]

As we speak Laurice Rahme is going to sue all of us and all bloggers and mainstream media types who dare mention her and the word sue in the same sentence. Use it twice and your children will be sued.

seriously though

Janit's Attar blog
http://janitasattars.blogspot.com/20...und-bully.html

which refers to other blogs

Andy Tauers blog mentioned it yesterday

[silverbullet]

As we speak Laurice Rahme is going to sue all of us and all bloggers and mainstream media types who dare mention her and the word sue in the same sentence. Use it twice and your children will be sued.

LMAO

Send lawyers, guns, and money..the shit has hit the fan. "Warren Zevon"

[fredricktoo]

Just a word regarding Fox News and their proposition that the phrase "Fair and Balanced" was theirs exclusively. They sued and if I'm not mistaken were laughed out of court by the judge as their lawyer read his opening argument.

[Domingo]

Tsssk, going to war for making use of the word 'peace', how sick is this world anyway..?

[the non blonde]

Bond's PR is trying to do some damage control, but instead they're digging themselves a deeper hole:
http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com/200...bond-no-9.html

[fredricktoo]

Collectors of Colt Peacemaker revolvers which were produced between 1873 and 1941 should expect instructions on where to bring their weapons so that a bulldozer may roll them back into sheets and not sully the name Peace on Earth. Did someone mention Bing Crosby's estate?

[Domingo]

I would not be surprised if this whole Bond no. 9 bizz is based on some clever use of gas chromatography techniques.

[nthny]

Bond's PR is trying to do some damage control, but instead they're digging themselves a deeper hole:
http://thenonblonde.blogspot.com/200...bond-no-9.html

oh my GOD! This is ridiculous though it makes me a little happy because I really did like ONLY TWO of their fragrances (Fire Island and Silver Factory) and now I am SURE to not waste my money... and my original OH MY GOD refers to the response found in the link above... Zorn SIMPLY stated the facts... any repercussions are not her responsibility! And she was in her right to do so! I can't believe this... I really hope those who have the power to do something about this do (perhaps basenoters who are journalists or who live near their stores and can pass out information.) I know that my thinking about retribution is a bit immature but attacking perfumers and artists, doing something I can only dream of, is cold and, in a way, insane. I'll do what I can as well, whatever little it may be (telling my friends and family, etc not to buy any Bond No.9 products).

I know thanks sound strange in a situation like this, but thank you for bringing this to our attention.

[creedfan1138]

You know, and just today i thought i'd like to get my gf and me into some of Bond's stuff, to sort of broaden our frag horizons.

I'm so glad i read this post. This kind of corporate bullying and imperial enterprising must stop. And the only way to make a tangible impact is to refuse to endorse it by buying from ruthless and money-hungry companies like Bond.

Peep this, Laurice Rahme: You just lost a potential customer over your greedy BS. Do us all a favour and PEACE THE FUCK OUT.

Creed's better anyway. Sue me.

[Scentronic]

Any time I ever speak to someone about Bond from now on, it will be unfavorable review.

[Natural_Juice]

oh my GOD! and my original OH MY GOD refers to the response found in the link above... Zorn SIMPLY stated the facts... any repercussions are not her responsibility! And she was in her right to do so! I can't believe this... I really hope those who have the power to do something about this do (perhaps basenoters who are journalists or who live near their stores and can pass out information.)

I'd like to add here, as I did in thenonblond thread, that Lizz did NOT call anyone. Neither did I when I got the letter about Riverside last January. Lizz' letter was non-confrontational and factual. This is interesting to see being played out. Verrrrrryyyy interesting ;-)

Peace out, as Lizz always says (she and I are good friends, BTW, so we are in contact behind the scenes as the saga continues, just staying calm and sitting back and watching the show.)

Thank you, everyone, for your insights. I know you need not support us directly in this, we're actually way beyond caring what Bond does, but the public perspective is heartening.

Maybe the attorney who wrote me and deemed Rahme as having achieved "notoriety" was psychic ;-)

[TheCure]

Ahh Bond No. 9, they were the house i loved to hate even before this nonsense!

Still, I really do like Aurelien Guichard's Chinatown and Michel Almairac's Fire Island... and the fact I can pick up Creed at 50% off at one of Bond's Madison Avenue shops. how long are they going to keep up the "Creed Liquidation", as the sign in the window states? it's been YEARS! Laurice seems to be in permanent liquidation mode of anyone who doesn't see things her way.

[Kyra]

So she’s aspiring for the heights of litigious idiocy, and achieving a level near McDonald’s notion that an entire country north of England stole their prefix. At least she’s not likely to be as well armed as the Micky Mafia. Nobody messes with the mouse!

[Minou2]

Ms. Rahme must have little confidence in the quality of her product, if she has to resort to this.

[Stuffman]

From the follow-up response from the Bond Guys:

wo Springs ago she had the idea to launch a Peace fragrance at the United Nations and donate to UNICEF for that first year. Since 2007, the donations have been to Seeds of Peace (http://seedsofpeace.org/), and Laurice continues to donate for Peace. The Scent of Peace is a top selling fragrance which allows us to donate a large amount of money to charity, and we're very pleased

Yes, she came up with the idea all on her own. I'm sure it had nothing to do with Creed's Love in White and it's whole charity thing. Go ahead, Laurice, keep telling everyone how it's important to protect your "original" ideas when they are nearly all clones.

[chayaruchama]

I am just plain baad.
I own Anya's Riverside, and just bought me a big ole bottle of P@%&E...

That's right , folks.
We must ALL live in fear of an iconoclastic Midwestern organic garlic farmer's wife....
She's PURE EVIL.

[I love you gals]

[somethinpositiv]

Laurice is a SKANK.

[Paul G]

Laurice is a SKANK.

We get it. You don't like Bond. I understand this as I don't care for them either. However this is getting personal and needs to stop. It's unnecessary and subsequent posts of this ilk are going to be removed.

[paintrman]

I would personally like to take a vow to NOT support the above mentioned company. Hey, I live in Mexico, so I think I can say...Bond No.9 without fear of being sued.

We can correct this with out wallets. Let's support real "Peace" lovers (like Liz Zorn) and not support those that don't deserve our money.

Anyone else want to take the vow?