7/3/13 EDITED TO ADD: This post went live on the morning of July 2, 2013 in it’s original version which is what you see here.
Where AdoptHelp.com Rips Off My Personal Branding
OK I know that I am not the first person to use a play off the Rosie the Riveter images. I understand that this is an iconic image that has been co-opted in many ways since Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller created the famous “We Can Do It!” image in 1942. A search of “Rosie the Riveter” images quickly shows the vast numbers of reproductions and I don’t claim to be the first.
Rosie the Riveter went pink for breast cancer.
She’s a well loved Rockabilly type image recreated.
Even Michelle Obama went “Rosie”.
And I personally love the “I’m so crafty, I make people” Rosie.
My Favorite Rosie? Me the Adoption Activist
However, I am pretty damn sure that I am the first person to use a Rosie the Riveter reproduction shot as my personal adoption activist messaging in support of Adoptee Rights. I also know for a fact, that ALL my profile images use this
I forget when exactly I first got the idea to do my own Rosie images for my “branding”, but early in 2012, my darling Rye surprised me with the gift of a photo shoot with the divine Tamme Stitt Photography. The one “shot” I wanted was a recreation of the Rosie shot which we did, it came out perfect and then I photoshopped to be the Adoptee Rights Activist image I use now. Tamme posted the first images on 3-23-12 and I had my Rosie images up almost immediately, so I have been using this exclusively for well over a year. I switched out all my “main” images to this shot. And while there are all too many images of me that come up when you Google my name or “FauxClaud”, my “Rosie the Riveter” or as I like to call it “Claud the Adoption Activist” stuff comes up first or near the top for me, which shows that it is most wildly used, hence, ranks best as “the” image of me.
I love it. I am proud of it. It says everything you need to know about me in one perfect image. I really thought that I had nothing left or the adoption industry to take from me.
Adopt Help Just Exploited ME!
While I don’t find my way over to Adoption.com often anymore, the fact is, I do have eyes everywhere. Even eyes that belong to people that I have never met ( yet!) or people that I don’t know, who kindly look out for me, make suggestions and throw things my way. Rhonda was one of them this week. Thank you, Rhonda! She sent me this image from an ADOPTION AGENCY ad found on Adoption.com:
It’s also a banner ad and a big one that pregnancy info page as well as the original that she found that was a pop-up ad:
And, while I get that it is indeed possible that some advertising persona at AdopteHelp.com though this idea all by themselves, I find it quite unlikely that they did not see my image and decide to co-op it. I’m sorry but even the style of the photography is kind of like the amazing luminescence that Tamme gets!
Now, of course, they say that imitation is the finest form of flattery, but I see it as trying to use MY IMAGE to further their efforts of separating mothers and babies for adoption profits. I see it as trying to confuse people as to what I stand for. I see it as somehow making it look like *I* support their efforts. And in case you haven’t got a clue;
I DO NOT SUPPORT ADOPT HELP!!!
Shall we count the ways that AdoptHelp is a first class example of everything that we hate about the corrupt adoption industry? Why yes, I think we shall!
So, first off let’s look at the “landing page” for this ad: http://www.adopthelp.com/pregnant/ I can see that they are big on keywords and must have had someone do SEO for their site..badly, I might add.
“We offer every type of adoption plan from closed to open and everything in between including newborn adoption, domestic adoption, and pregnant adoption and ensure that you make all decisions concerning your adoption plan. “
I laugh as I see the ‘pregnant adoption’ keyword link that goes to the main url. Why include a word that doesn’t make sense? Because Google told them it was highly searched keyword and they have an idiot writing their copy. Yeah, the happy smiling woman is the face of every potential birthmother.
Mark Goldman and his Lawyer Wife Alanna Goldman Pretend to Be an Adoption Agency
Yes, I can nitpick more, but I am more interested in who is behind this stupid site that has ripped off my personal branding. So I go to the About Us area and finds the happy smiling faces of the AdoptHelp staff..and start to see that they don’t look much like the typical adoption agency, it reads more like a law firm. Funny, because really it IS a law firm. In fact, I find this:
“Mark Goldman is the founder of AdoptHelp Law Center, a full service adoption law firm located in Sherman Oaks, California, and AdoptHelp, Inc., a national birth mother advertising and outreach program.”
What looks like an adoption agency, advertises like an adoption agency but really isn’t an adoption agency? A national birth mother advertising and outreach program! We call them TROLLING FOR BABIES. Professional trollers!!
And now we can also ad in stealing peoples advertising ideas! But that would probably be Breanne NO LAST NAME the Director Of Marketing.
Funny how Google works.. I can find you: Breanne Williamson I can see that you have a cute husband and baby ( that you did not buy, but made!) I can see that you like DYI stuff. And I can ask you WHERE’D YOU GET THAT GREAT IDEA for those BANNER ADs?? And I shall, but somehow I don’t expect that I will hear back from you.
“Hi Breanne,
I am assuming that as the Director of Marketing for AdoptHelp, Inc that you are behind the recent banner ads that are on Adoption,.com?(http://images.adoption.com/ads/300x600_preg_rosie.jpg)
I am about to post on my blog about these ads and your employers website and marketing efforts, so I was just wondering if you had any time to talk about the inspiration behind these iconic images used to appeal to pregnant women.”
I have not heard back from her. Granted, as we are not ” Facebook Friends” she probably did not see my message as it is sitting in her little known, never checked “other” folder.
Live Chat? NOOOO..
OK, I kid you not: So I go on their site and hit the live chat window. And the chat opening comes in and says “hi how may I help you today?” So I type : I am wondering about your banner ads on Adoption.com.
No answer. No answer. Where are you Michelle who “keeps open our lines of communication 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” No answer.
So AS I am typing “If I said I was pregnant would you answer me?” The chat window says that it unable to continue do to inactivity.. I press send and see my pregnant message and then the whole thing closes! BAM! And I cannot get it back.
To be fair, I opened up the site on another window and the same thing happened. I think it’s just busted and crappy like the link to their Better Business Bureau ratings!
Ok so back to the horrible contact forms.. when will people learn to just supply an email already!
“I am not looking to adopt or relinquished, I’d like to speak to Breanne about the recent banner ads that are being used on Adoption.com. I am a journalist writing about adoption advertising and they caught my eye. If she could call me at 845 750 5954 that would be swell! Thank you!”
AdopteHelp is NOT Helpful and Full of BS!
Ok so while I wait for them to NOT get back to me so I can ask them directly if they ripped off my pictures, let’s go to their “blog” and this super informative “birthmother question“:
Birth Mother Question: I was just wondering if you get any feedback from birth mothers a year or two after placement regarding their outlook on adoption and their decision to place?
As a birth mother who placed a baby through AdoptHelp two years ago, Mark asked me to answer this question. I have spoken with many birth mothers who have placed over the years through my support group on the Web. The good news is that I am not aware of any birth mothers who regret their decision. I have talked with some who wished that they weren’t in the position they were in. Then again, I also have talked to women who have placed twice, who couldn’t be happier because there was no other option in their opinion. Every woman, no matter what their story, although they have had their hard times, does not for a single second regret what they did. They know they did what was best for their child, and they respect their story. It has changed more lives than one, and as birth mom’s, that’s what we strive for. Changing not only the lives of our child, but the life of the parent or parents that will love and nourish our child. From my experience, most birth mothers have the same outlook; they are proud and stand with their heads held high!
Oh my effing god…
You are not AWARE of birthmother regrets? And what rock have you been hiding under? What flavor is your adoption kool-aid??
Couldn’t be HAPPIER after placing TWICE?? Did they get curiosity lobotomies too?
Please excuse me while I go beat my head against the nearest brick wall.
No Trademark, No Recourse, AdoptHelp is Super Sleazy
I know I do not “own” any rights to using a Rosie the Riveter type of image. But I really find this to be sleazy of AdoptHelp. I am sure that they knew exactly what they were doing by having an image close enough to mine that it could confuse people even a tiny bit. I really do NOT appreciate it.
Don’t like this post? Then give me a call. You got my number. Balls in YOUR court.
