Amazon’s new ban on the words “fart” and “farting” results in the suspension of vendor ads—disrupting business, revenues
and causing loyal retailers to question Amazon’s process and criteria.
Clearwater, United States – February 26, 2019 /MarketersMedia/ —
In an Amazon marketplace consisting of over 600 million products; frequent, compelling and creative sponsored ads help sellers stand out and compete for the hearts and minds of consumers. Thus, when Jay Kamhi, a top-rated seller on Amazon.com, received an email stating his long-running sponsored ads for his “Poop Emoji Farting Plush Toy” and “Farting Poop Emoji Pen” were suddenly suspended, Kamhi was so surprised he thought it was a joke.
“When I received the email from Amazon informing me that it had classified the words “fart” and “farting” as “profanity” and my ads were now suspended, my first thought was that somebody was pranking me. My second thought was Amazon made a mistake. After all, farting is a natural bodily function. It’s a term that’s used by children and adults alike and our “farting” products happen to be among our most popular items,” Kamhi states.
Despite Kamhi’s surprise, the email to Kamhi was not a prank or a mistake. In his follow-up communication via phone, Kamhi was informed by a conscientious Amazon rep that “We don’t want children being exposed to this type of profanity.”
Amazon’s decision raises bigger questions of process and equity for Kamhi. As someone who holds over 20 trademarks, Kamhi is well aware that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) strictly prohibits the trademarking of profane or “bad” words. The USPTO has determined that the words Fart and Farting are not profanity. This ruling is in direct opposition to Amazon’s position. Kamhi even holds the trademark on “Farting Pen”—the root words of his “Emoji Farting Pen” product.
“Certainly, a private company has the right to do as it pleases. At the same time, when that private company happens to be the largest online retailer in the world and it decides to classify a word as profane (without forewarning), it has far-reaching impacts on businesses worldwide—and their bottom line. My concern is that today the word may be “fart,” but tomorrow it could be something else. Where is the line drawn between capitalism and free speech, who draws it and what’s the process? These are questions I now have. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow only to learn that a new word in one of our long-running Amazon sponsored ads has suddenly been reclassified,” Kamhi states.
While ads with the word “fart” and “farting” can still be found on Amazon.com, Amazon states that it is only because the “Moderation team” is “manually” going through the process of reviewing all of the listings on the Amazon website and “suspending any such seller ads which are incorrectly being advertised.”
Until all ads are removed, Amazon welcomes Kamhi’s assistance—seeking to engage him in its anti-fart crackdown, stating, “If you find similar listings in general search results you can report them by following the steps here…”
Kamhi’s response: “Thanks but no thanks.” Kamhi continues by saying, “Promoting my products has just become 10 times more difficult and I’ve definitely not signed up to become the “fart enforcer”– especially when I believe Amazon’s decision is not well-founded.
ABOUT OUR FRIENDLY FOREST
“Poop Emoji Farting Plush Toy” and “Farting Poop Emoji Pen” are products within the Our Friendly Forest store on Amazon.com. Founded by veteran novelty item manufacturer, Jay Kamhi, Our Friendly Forest produces funny, original pop culture toys and novelties that talk, move or light up. The creator of the talking/singing pen, Kamhi got his start over 30 years ago as a NYC street vendor and grew to have his products in many major store chains— including Wal-Mart and Target. Kamhi made his first big splash with the Napoleon Dynamite Talking Doll. Next, Kamhi began creating talking toys based on the outrageous characters from popular TV shows and movies such as Toy Story, Shrek, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Hannah Montana, 40 Year-Old Virgin and many others. In 2015, Kamhi successfully launched his line of funny novelties exclusively on Amazon—increasing revenue to almost five million dollars to date. Kamhi’s Donald Trump Talking Pen became the #1 selling toy on Amazon in late 2016 and Kamhi has created another 12 best-selling novelty items since. Kamhi’s products have been seen on national talk shows, including The View and Sean Hannity.
Contact Info:
Name: Jay Kamhi
Email: Send Email
Organization: Our Friendly Forest
Phone: 7277761194
Website: https://amzn.to/2IivxMZ
Source: MarketersMedia
Release ID: 483067
