BIKINI BUST-UP
EXCLUSIVE: Meter Maids dumped from Games
THE iconic Gold Coast Meter Maids will not play a role in the opening and closing ceremonies at the Commonwealth Games, sparking an embarrassing legal dispute with organisers.
After promotional Games appearances, the partnership has turned ugly with the Meter Maids missing from the ceremony script shown privately this week.
GOLDOC chairman Peter Beattie is furious, accusing the group of “acting like children” after signing a confidentiality agreement and then leaking documents.
Having sought legal advice, Meter Maids owner Roberta Aitchison said: “I’m concerned that they think the image of a golden bikini, sash and hat is something anybody can use.
“I have it trademarked and my lawyers have also told me the common law protects me from anybody passing off the image and brand and its iconic representation as theirs to use without my permission.”
Documents show GOLDOC last year asked the Meter Maids to sign a confidential release of intellectual property rights.
The relationship had been golden, with a cardboard cutout of one of the girls featur- ing during a cheeky moment at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Glasgow Games.
In May this year, Commonwealth Games Minister Kate Jones wrote to Ms Aitchison after the group emailed about its interest in performing at the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Minister understood the Meter Maids contacted Jack Morton Worldwide, the ceremonies production company, to “discuss your potential inclusion in ceremonies as an icon of the Gold Coast”.
“I understand JMW has acknowledged the cultural significance of the Gold Coast Meter Maids and will be in contact at the appropriate time,” she wrote.
JMW’s Merryn Hughes emailed Ms Aitchison late last month saying the ceremonies had undergone “rigorous and time-consuming creative development”.
“With that process complete and the creative outline and creative content for the ceremonies significantly advanced we can tell you that unfortunately we do not require the services of the current Gold Coast Meter Maids for the ceremonies,” she wrote.
Ms Hughes reminded Ms Aitchison that “we trust that you will respect the desire to maintain confidentiality in regards to both our discussions and correspondence”.
Ms Aitchison has responded by assembling a legal team to protect the brand which she and husband Craig had “kept alive” for the past 30 years.
Mr Beattie yesterday was at lengths to explain tough decisions had to be made because “this was a once-in-alifetime opportunity” to sell the new “sophisticated” Gold Coast to the world.
“The Gold Coast is a totally different place to what it was in the 1950s and 1960s. We want to sell the new Gold Coast,” he said.
Ms Aitchison said the Meter Maids were the most recognisable image of the city through recent decades.
“The sun, the sand, the lifestyle, the ultimate holiday destination. This is what we want the world to see, that we are unique, we are different, we are the Gold Coast,” she said.