From Inman News Features
CBS has issued an apology to the National Association of REALTORS® for its alleged misuse of the term “REALTOR®” in an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”
The apology was received after NAR attorney Laurie Janik sent a letter to CBS about what the association believed was the “inappropriate use” of the term “REALTOR®” in the Oct. 10 episode of the popular television series, which included an unsavory real estate salesman character.
CBS in its reply to NAR didn’t admit the term “REALTOR®” had been used inappropriately, but the network agreed to modify the show before it is rebroadcast.
“While we respectfully disagree with your suggestion that the use at issue is in any sense unlawful or otherwise improper, CBS productions will make appropriate modifications deleting all references to ‘REALTOR®’ previously contained in the episode. Those modifications will be reflected in any future telecasts of the episode,” the letter stated.
NAR’s vice president of public affairs, Stephen Cook, said CBS’s actions don’t undo the damage the episode did to the REALTOR® image.
“The episode was horrible, and it clearly was a violation of our trademark. The fact that CBS so quickly agreed to delete the term ‘REALTOR®’ indicates we were right. But it was a regrettable incident,” he said.
The CSI episode opened with a split-second glimpse of a for-sale sign emblazoned with red, white and blue horizontal bands similar to Re/Max International’s trademark design, plus an AOL-you-have-mail-style mailbox, a fictional name and the word “REALTOR®.”
The show contained two plot lines, one of which involved the at-home murder of a wealthy man (“he has a good sense of humor”) and his much-younger second wife (“she’s a babe”).
The couple’s glamorous mansion had been listed for sale with a real estate salesman, who is referred to several times as a “REALTOR®” and who admitted to having given the lockbox combination to a couple of hotties who went gaga over the house, tried on the owners’ clothing, had sex in the bedroom and were questioned as suspects in the murder investigation.
The investigators spotted what appeared to be the salesman himself hovering in the background of a pornographic videotape of the murdered wife.
“That’s the REALTOR®! I just did a background check on that guy. (There were) half a dozen robberies in the houses he had listed—art, antiques, stuff like that,” exclaimed one of the investigators when the salesman was seen in the video.
The image turned out to be a life-size promotional cutout of the salesman that was being stored in a closet along with the same for-sale sign that was displayed at the beginning of the show.
“These slime will do anything to sell a house,” one of the investigators said when the cutout and sign were discovered.
The episode was brought to NAR’s attention when Re/Max on Oct. 31 filed a lawsuit against CBS and its owner Viacom in the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colo. The lawsuit alleged infringement and misuse of Re/Max’s trademark.
Re/Max Chairman Dave Liniger said in a statement that the company has “an obligation” to its agents to prevent others from using its trademarks and that the CSI episode could “tarnish” their reputations.
He said the company uses a professional firm to seek placements of Re/Max trademarks in television shows and films, but the company “wasn’t informed” of the CSI episode.
“We would not have approved a Re/Max sign in this scenario because of the negative connotations,” Liniger said.
CBS spokesperson Nancy Carr said the broadcaster is “very confident that the lawsuit does not have any merit.”
The Re/Max name wasn’t mentioned nor was there any hint of Re/Max’s famous hot-air balloon logo in the CSI episode and Re/Max certainly isn’t the only real estate company that uses patriotic-themed colors. But the degree to which a casual viewer might associate the red, white and blue for-sale sign specifically with Re/Max certainly is open to question.
Liniger said Re/Max has owned and protected its trademark horizontal red, white and blue bars for 30 years and has no intention of letting the trademark become lost.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, removal of the look-alike sign from the episode and assurances that CSI won’t use a similar design in the future, according to news reports.
“CBS attorneys were unwilling to allow time to reach an agreement with us on deleting or changing the look-alike sign in any future re-broadcasts of the episode. We had no other option than to file suit,” Liniger said.
Re/Max sent a copy of the lawsuit to NAR, which it said “has been vigorous in its protection of the term ‘REALTOR®.’”
Cook said NAR wasn’t a party to Re/Max’s lawsuit and doesn’t intend to get involved in it. But he added: “We certainly sympathize with them.”