Is it time for Bay Life to join other people in asking questions about the promotion behind THE UNITED KINGDOM UKULELE ORCHESTRA?
We are big fans of the Ukulele. The first time we heard Wuthering Heights done Ukulele style, we were hooked. Must have been a few years ago, but we have watched the Orchestra grow in fame from year to year, and we like what they do not just because of the gentle humour and thoughtfulness but because of their skill.
So of course, when we received the press release from the theatres press office in Eastbourne, up it went, first thing. The one and only we billed it…… complete with picture of the players we don’t know, but we love.
Except.
The next thing we knew we had a tweet from Ukulele Kris, telling us that they were a pale imitation…. pale imitation, what exactly was being compared we thought? A Ukulele purist of some description perhaps?
The penny (and the Ukulele) dropped the next day. The Radio 4 PM programme reported on a court case.
The original, the one and only, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was in court. Why were they in court, we thought, why are they not tuning up for the Eastbourne gig that people are booking in eager anticipation?
That is because it is not the one and only (as we called them) Ukulele Orchestra coming to Eastbourne, it is another Orchestra.
Let us just pause at this point. We have made a genuine mistake, the same thing must be happening across the UK.
The original orchestra is The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
The orchestra coming to Eastbourne is the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, they are based in Germany and whilst we can say nothing about their skills, what we can say, given the obvious confusion that they have created, is that it is time perhaps for them to consider matters further.
The courts will now decide. Astonishingly we have received an email today, on behalf of the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, (September 25) asking us to change the picture, because we have got the wrong one. Well, we would have the wrong one, wouldn’t we, since we believed that there was only one Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain?
We will do better than remove the picture, we will now remove the article suggesting that people should go and see the one and only Ukuele Orchestra in Eastbourne, because it is not the one and only…(maintaining what we have done and why of course).
It is a pale imitation, as UkeKris suggested to us?
We simply do not know. Whatever their skills, would it not be a good idea for them to get their own name that is at least distant enough from the name of the original Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, so that people know who they will be seeing?
Here is an interesting legal question. If people turn up at the Eastbourne show, genuinely believing that they will be seeing the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, will they be entitled to ask for a refund?
What we do know is that in the confusion we have advertised (unknowingly) the wrong Orchestra.
Do we suggest that people go to this show in Eastbourne given the circumstances? People will make up their own minds.
Would the court considering the question about the use of the name like to consider this article (and no doubt many others that have been misled into believing they are offering information about the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, when they are not) ?
We would be very happy to tell the story of how we were unknowingly misled. Is it the fault of the theatre press release office in Eastbourne? No it is not, they have written in good faith about the orchestra that is based in Germany. Who in these circumstances bears responsibility for the confusion?
The next appearance of the one and only Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is in two days time, 27 September 2014, at the Shanklin Theatre Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom.
Simon Montgomery
editor, Bay Life
