When is “ask forgiveness, not permission” a good idea? Baggu found out the hard way.
At their new San Francisco store opening, the sustainable bag brand gave away BART-branded water bottles, hats, and stickers — without permission from Bay Area Rapid Transit.
It wasn’t really BART merch, Baggu thought it was OK to knock off the BART logo and make it their own. Not good!
The stunt went viral, drew backlash, and pushed Baggu into crisis-control talks with BART about a legitimate merch partnership.
This breakdown covers how a giveaway meant to celebrate a store launch turned into a lesson on intellectual property, licensing, and how official collaborations can build more trust (and less chaos).