Franklin Loufrani: The True Owner of Smiley

For 25 years, the media has propagated an urban myth based on a combination of misinformation and a poor understanding of simple legal concepts like copyright, patent and trademarks. The Harvey Ball myth – as detailed on the Smiley website – is simple yet emotional, capturing the attention of both the mass media and the public and providing all of the necessary ingredients for a classic urban legend. To debunk it requires investigation of complicated legal concepts, an endeavour far less attractive to journalists whose overall aim is to pique and retain the curiosity of readers.

Urban legends are a genre of modern folklore that involves the dissemination of false narratives posing as true stories. Urban legends need to be sufficiently plausible to ensure their believability. They generally centre around rare or exceptional events that purportedly happened to a real person in a particular place. Over time, as urban myths propagate throughout communities, they tend to change and evolve. One such urban myth surrounds the Smiley, a global icon representing hope and positivity.

According to the Harvey Ball myth, Ball created the Smiley logo and was paid just $45 for his efforts. He created the design for a badge for State Mutual as part of an advertising campaign. In reality, registering a copyright or trademark against it would never have been an option for Ball, as he did not create the campaign like an advertising agency would or benefit from the goodwill of its exploitation; he merely executed a design in 10 minutes based on an idea from Joe Young – the head of marketing of State Mutual – and his team, who conceptualised everything. Their goodwill was also limited to the trademark class of insurance services, was named the Smile insurance companies (not Smiley), expired in the late 1960s and was not akin to the Smiley Company’s business model, which made Smiley recognised and appealing globally.

The genuine smiley face creator and owner is none other than Franklin Loufrani, founder of The Smiley Company. Loufrani worked as a journalist for the France Soir newspaper at the time and was asked to come up with a campaign in response to a flurry of negative headlines reporting civil and political unrest. The journalist conceived the Smiley logo in 1971 as part of the newspaper’s ‘Take the Time to Smile’ campaign. The campaign provided readers with a much-needed dose of positivity and optimism, with its popularity quickly spreading across the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, passing on Loufrani’s message through De Telegraph, La Vanguardia and Blick respectively.

When Franklin Loufrani registered the trademark to his smiling face logo in 1971 he did not yet use the brand name ‘Smiley’, which became a trademark from the late 1980s. Over the years, The Smiley Company has established a global presence as a leading lifestyle brand with a defiantly optimistic outlook.

The SmileyWorld Story – Nicolas Loufrani (youtube.com

In launching The Smiley Company, Franklin Loufrani and his son Nicolas Loufrani created a unique business model that centres around creative partnerships with third-party manufacturers and retailers. Recognised today as business and culture innovators, Franklin and Nicolas Loufrani made bold steps in marketing happiness and emotional intelligence, as well as pioneering the realms of lifestyle intellectual property licensing, fashion marketing, digital communication, digital marketing and language. The Smiley Company has also been proud to support game-changers in the charity sector.

The Smiley Company’s cultural, artistic and intellectual influence resonates globally today. Acknowledged as one of the world’s most influential intellectual property brands, the organisation has amassed an impressive array of coveted awards and has been featured in many books and news articles.

Committed to the protection of its brands, intellectual property, consumers, retail partners and licensees, The Smiley Company holds a vast portfolio of trademarks globally, including owning the rights to the Smiley name and the Smiley Original Logo. Since the trademark to the first Smiley was registered in France in 1971, The Smiley Company has built a design-led brand, developing somewhere in the region of 15,000 new products each year and implementing hundreds of marketing campaigns annually.

The Smiley Company continually monitors marketplaces, websites and social media channels, checking for counterfeits of its intellectual products. Each year, The Smiley Company issues successful takedown orders for a number of advertisements on social sites and sales platforms that contravene its intellectual property rights and try to surf on its decades of creative efforts and brand awareness.