Friday 26 August 2016

When The Halo Slips - The Story of a Create and Craft Angel (Policy)

On Saturday 25 June 2016, Create & Craft TV launched from their Tattered Lace brand two sets of Licensed Disney Craft Products; "Vintage Disney & Friends" and "Frozen".

There had been some speculation beforehand about being able to sell but the press releases had said personal use only.

When the show launched and the prices for the items were revealed.  The prices ranged from £9.99 for some small individual dies to various bundles costing up to £999.99 for the Ultimate Collection.  The C&C and Tattered Lace Facebook pages were lighting up with comments about the pricing of the items and people were asking about being able to sell because it was a lot to ask people to spend for something that was only for personal use.  It took Stephanie Weightman 59 minutes into a two hour show to tell people that  Just to make the Angel Policy clear again, it's not about selling our cards; that's not something we can do with our Disney license . . ."

Whilst it kind of confirmed what a lot of us knew already there was a bit of an uproar on social media due to what they were charging for some of the bundles. There were a few who had bought bundles/collections who were saying they were going to cancel their orders whilst others were saying they couldn't afford to buy if they weren't allowed to sell anything they made.

Within 36 hours of people first saying they were cancelling orders/not buying posts began to appear on the Tattered Lace/Create and Craft Facebook pages that Disney had agreed to allow Create and Craft customers to be able to make and sell.  Then a day or so later they were reading out statements to that effect live on air. 

There were some viewers, like myself, who were pretty sure that the Disney they were talking about was the Authorised Disney Licensee Character World with whom they had a legal agreement rather than The Walt Disney Company. Those of us who wrote to Disney about it started to receive emails which quite clearly stated that any Licensed Disney craft products were "for use by consumers for personal and family enjoyment".




We were posting  screenshots of these Disney emails onto the C&C and Tattered Lace Facebook pages but they kept being removed by the company. It even got to the stage that we were being accused of not telling the truth because  the presenter said "we cannot stand here and say these things unless they are 100% true" whilst all the while they were the ones who just kept perpetrating terminological inexactitudes. At one point they were telling customers that they could sell up to 200 handmade items per design per product purchased!


Eventually, on 12 July 2016, they did change to the official Disney line but not before the Chief Marketing Officer called the owner of the Closed Facebook Group that was set up (she doesn't know how C&C got her phone number). Apparently his tone was not the most pleasant and she felt bullied by him. H
e told her that Disney were furious with her, and the rest of us in the group, for bringing the Disney brand name into disrepute (all we did was post on the page what Disney were saying). He said that Disney had signed off all the paperwork and had agreed that we could purchase the Disney crafting products from Create and Craft and make and sell Disney products. He said that because of our posts on Create and Crafts Facebook page and the use of the name Disney in a closed Facebook group, Disney withdrew the selling policy from Create and Craft.

C&C did have on their website an alteration to their "Angel Policy" in that only those who purchased prior to 12 July 2016 could still sell. When asked Disney's reply was:



The "Angel Policy" saying customers could still sell if they purchased pre-12 July 2016 remained on the website long enough for more emails to go to Disney questioning the C&C statement.




Right from the start of all this, Disney told anyone who contacted them that there was to be no selling of anything made using the licensed craft products.  However, it hasn't stopped Create and Craft presenters telling viewers to go to the C&C website to view their so called Angel Policy because "Disney have given us a very generous Angel Policy" when in fact all it now consists of is a final statement from Disney which actually says:



Members of the campaigning group were blocked from a number of C&C linked Facebook pages, some have also had their IP addresses blocked, for speaking up in the hope at least one person has been saved from being on the receiving end of a Disney lawsuit!

Something appears to be happening behind the scenes though - which is perhaps not surprising considering Trading Standards, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and, of course, Disney have been looking into their practices over the last few weeks since the launch. According to the original press release from Ideal Shopping Direct, C&C's parent company:

"Launching this summer with a Disney dedicated area on their website, this is the biggest ever craft even on Create and Craft TV. A wide-range of products will be available with new launches planned monthly."

So far there has only been one product launch for the Vintage Mickey and Frozen "Franchises".  I think they have just about done these two to the death. The demo's that they have been doing with them have, after 8 weeks, now become same old, same old.  Let's face it, there's only so much of paper piecing Elsa, Sven, Goofy & Mickey that folk can take. Create and Craft have already cut what they termed as "Disney Destination" hours 6pm - 8pm on a Tuesday night and 10 am on a Saturday. It now seems to be cut down to an hour of whatever one of those days/times they feel like - even the promised dedicated area of the website with the paper piecing boards etc is now non-existent.

So, if you are sitting comfortably, here is
A Fairy Tale of the Create and Craft Angel Policy - enjoy! The sound on the clips isn't the best as they were recorded from my laptop, however all the clips have been transcribed and have been subtitled. Subtitles are accessed by clicking on CC icon to the  lower right hand side of the screen - a red underscore indicates that it is switched on.







Excerpts are from Create and Craft TV Shopping Channel programmes which aired between 25 June 2016 and 29 July 2016.

Disclaimer: All music, excerpts, clips, etc. belong to all respective artists.  Absolutely NO copyright infringement intended.


This video was made to provide information and is not in any way used to gain a profit.



UPDATE
September 2016

In spite of several nudge, nudge, wink, wink, asides on air alluding to the fact that Tattered Lace/Create & Craft have new Disney craft products in the pipeline, and bearing in mind that there were supposed to be new releases on a monthly basis, there have been no further Disney "Franchises" launched.  


Presenters no longer mention a "very generous Angel Policy", instead they have started informing viewers that anything Disney has it's "limitations" and refer them to the Call Centre/Customer Services for further details.  There's a bit of progress in that they have now said that non-character Disney dies also have "limitations" due to copyright.

The C&C "Angel Policy" has had all references to Disney/Licensors removed and most Disney listings have a "Disney Statement" instead ie:

"Disney has granted the rights to various third parties to design, develop, manufacture and sell a range of craft products for consumers; licensed craft products are intended for use by consumers for personal and family enjoyment, such as making gifts for family, birthdays or other private celebrations. Licensed products may be used to produce craft items for enjoyment amongst friends and family (such as non-commercial gift giving) but not for any wider sale or distribution.”

They have stopped the lucky dip of emails at the end of the shows for giving away cards and other items made on shows using Disney craft products.  It was pointed out to them that this was likely to fall under commercial gift giving and therefore breaking terms of their licence.






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