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Credit: Inside The MagicWhen visiting a place like Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disneyland, or any other Disney theme park, there is one thing that you can count on — there is a TON of merchandise to buy.
It seems that there is almost nothing that Disney doesn’t make, from backpacks to mugs, shirts, hats, cookbooks, dolls, magnets, and more. Factoring merchandise purchases into your Disney vacation is an essential part of budgeting for your trip.
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Of course, not everyone who loves Disney gets to go to the theme parks on a regular basis. And while they can certainly head to the Disney Store online (formerly shopDisney), there are so many other places that sell Disney-themed merchandise. A lot of the merchandise is licensed by Disney, but a lot of it also flies under the radar — or Disney chooses to ignore it.
Selling unlicensed Disney merchandise can lead to a lawsuit if a company isn’t careful. And one company is trying to avoid a lawsuit from the Mouse House in the most hilarious way possible.
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Temu is a Chinese online marketplace that offers thousands of products at extremely discounted prices. The online store is only two years old, but has already created quite the name for itself. Some people love searching for that perfect item that they won’t spend a lot of money on. Others think that it should be avoided at all costs, since it is owned and operated by a Chinese holdings company.
One shopper recently decided to buy some Disney items that he found on the website, and when he received them, he was shocked at just how far the company was going to try to avoid copyright infringement.
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TikTokers Emilie and John Fernstrom took to the platform to warn followers about the risks of ordering from Temu. John said that his wife wanted to order some socks for their upcoming Disney trip. When she visited the Temu site, she found some adorable crew socks with Disney characters on the side and their names on the bottom.
However, when they received the socks, they were stunned. While the characters were adorable on the side of the socks, their names were… well… not their actual names. Instead, they were interesting takes on the original names.
@emilie.fernstrom Be careful when ordering from Temu… #expectationvsreality #Bigeet @John Fernstrom
The Temu Disney sock pack included socks featuring Chip, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Piglet. However, their names on the socks were Chip, Miikey, Mimnee, Tonaid, and Bigeet.
Commenters thought the purchase was extremely amusing, with many saying that they now wanted to go to the Temu website and purchase those exact socks. Others said that you get what you pay for and made jokes about taking the socks to “Didney Worl”. Thankfully, Emilie didn’t pay a lot for them, so she and her husband were able to joke about the purchase.
For the most part, Disney tends to let things slide when it comes to independent sellers — like those on Etsy — who sell Disney-themed merchandise. However, if sellers cross the line, Disney will not hesitate to send out a cease and desist, and escalate to a lawsuit if necessary.
Christopher Martin was a well-known Disney ear seller who was sent cease and desist letters by Disney back in 2021. Disney said that Martin promised to change his business so as not to violate copyright law, but he never did. The Mouse House even accused Martin of trying to trademark some of his Disney-themed designs.
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Eventually, Martin was permanently banned from visiting all Disney theme parks. In addition to continuing to sell his Disney ears, Disney claimed that Martin would use his Disney Annual Pass to purchase items at a discounted price. He would then resell those items for a higher price. That practice is strictly banned by Disney, and Annual Passholders agree not to do it when they sign their Annual Pass contract.
Do you think Disney should go after Temu for selling knock-off Disney merch? Or are you rushing to the website to purchase these hilarious crew socks? Let us know in the comments!