Winnipeg Jets logo spotted on guard's uniform in South Africa

Elianna Lev

It appears a security company in South Africa is using the logo for the Winnipeg Jets hockey team.

National Post reports that photos of the logo knockoff first surfaced on Twitter.

The tweet was posted by @therealjshields, who writes that it was sent to him by a Winnipeger currently travelling in Africa.

The photo shows the Jet’s distinct logo of an airplane over a Canadian maple leaf, on a patch of a uniformed man. Around the logo are the words “Jet Enterprises” and “Security”.

A representative from the hockey team told the Post it would be investigating the misuse of its logo.

Canadian logo confusion

This isn’t the first time a Canadian logo has been knocked off or misused.

Last year, The Canadian Press reported on a coffee shop in Yamunanagar, India with the name “Tim Hottens”. The store’s sign used the same font and design as famed Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons, along with its tagline “Always fresh”. It was reported that the Tim Horton’s knockoff had more the feel of a restaurant, and served burgers and alcoholic drinks, rather than crullers and Timbits.

Popular Canadian parka brand Canada Goose has spent a lot of resources targeting counterfeiters. It’s even devoted a section on its website on how to avoid buying a fake Canada Goose jacket. Earlier this year, Market Watch reported on eBay vendors who were selling $5 counterfeit patches of the Canada Goose logo. The patches were nearly identical to the brand’s logo, which are on the left arm of most of its outerwear products.

In 2017, the brand’s outerwear rival, Moose Knuckles, was awarded $53 million in damages and control of 33 websites that were selling counterfeit jackets.

In 2013, the City of Toronto took to task a billboard touting then-mayor, the late Rob Ford. The massive sign, which was mysteriously placed in Etobicoke, included the city’s logo without authorization, along with the message "Ford = Fiscal Responsiblity".

The sign’s misspelling of the word “responsibility” was ridiculed online.