Joe Lycett admitted changing his name to Hugo Boss was a real headache – thankfully the results paid off.
The comedian became a national hero when he legally changed his name to Hugo Boss, sharing the same title as the infamous fashion house. Why?
Hugo Boss sent cease and desist letter to several small businesses who also had ‘boss’ in their names, including a small brewery in Swansea called Boss Ruin. In turn, they were being forced to cough up thousands in legal fees and rebranding while Hugo Boss was comfortably sitting on their billions without a care in the world.
Speaking from his garden, the 31-year-old told Steph McGovern during today’s The Steph Show the ordeal was a headache, but totally worth it.
‘I announced it six weeks ago but I changed it quite a long time before then, he said. ‘It’s a long of admin I can tell you that. I’m glad I did it because it had a really good effect and absolutely illustrated the issues I was concerned with.’
‘We just wanted to get a bit of exposure for the story and it went massive – it was global news for a while!
‘So yeah, I’m glad I went through it all but it was a headache for admin.’
Joe has since reverted back to Joe Lycett.
Yesterday, he released a statement which read: ‘A little over a month ago I changed my name by deed poll to Hugo Boss.
‘This was to raise awareness about the fact that fashion behemoth Hugo Boss have issued cease and desist letters to small businesses that have the word ‘Boss’ in their name, including independent Swansea brewery, Boss Brewing.
‘And raise awareness it did – it became world news with headlines across the globe and also Dick n Dom from da Bungalow said I should be knighted.’
On why he decided to return to the House of Lycett, Joe continued: ‘Hugo Boss released a statement saying they “welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett to the Hugo Boss family.”
‘Well I have decided to go back to the Lycetts. They don’t target small businesses, if you ignore the time mum posted a dump to the local florist.’
The stint was in part for his Channel 4 series Get Your Own Back which serves as a watchdog for top consumers.
Tonight’s episode will see Joe and the team ‘secure one of the biggest financial victories ever seen on a consumer TV show,’ he added.
‘It is worth millions. It would be wrong for the company Hugo Boss to in any way take claim of this victory, or indeed many other victories across the series.’
The Steph Show airs weekdays at 12pm on Channel 4. Joe Lycett’s Get Your Own Back airs tonight at 8pm, also on Channel 4.
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