Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/11/10

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Subject: [Leica] Voigtländer Germany - a lie, a pile of baloney, or a marketing ploy?
From: douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:15:37 +0100
References: <C71F726B.585E5%mark@rabinergroup.com>



Mark Rabiner wrote:
> Amazing how differently I look at it.
> A coup?
> They bought the typeface.
> It says Voigtl?nder Germany on the box.
> I don't call that a coup I call it a big pile of baloney.
>
> And there's a difference!
>   
Not really, just read the small print

Cosina did not buy the type face. The brand name is registered as 
"Voigtl?nder Germany" and the distributors are a German company by the 
name of Ringfoto which also used the name on low-end products produced 
in Hong Kong and Korea, long before Cosina appeared on the scene.The 
company then licensed the name out to Cosina. A perfectly normal and 
typical marketing ploy.

BTW: "Made in Japan" is printed on my Voigtl?nder boxes too.

It has been going on for centuries, for instance the UK has a couple of 
small towns named Dresden and Delft, founded so they could print the 
names of famous tile and china-producing cities on the base of their 
mass-produced ceramic wares.

Does it say Nikon or Canon China on the boxes of  some of  their DSLRs 
and lenses? - I don't think so.
The box of my Canon  EF-S 60mm Macro shows CANON INC. in large bold caps 
and below it a shy and retiring, very tiny, light grey, lower case "Made 
in Taiwan".
Does that make it less of a Canon lens?
D.

>
> Mark William Rabiner
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>   



Replies: Reply from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] Voigtländer Germany - a lie, a pile of baloney, or a marketing ploy?)
In reply to: Message from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] M9 reviewers drawn from the "unwashed masses")