Love campaign has a domain name issue — Google’s Legalize

Logical domain names for campaign forward to a decidedly edgy web site.

Google has made quite a splash with its “Legalize Love” campaign disclosed during the Global LGBT Workplace Summit over the weekend.

The first thing I did when I heard news of its fresh campaign was to go to LegalizeLove.com to find more information.

And that’s where the problem begins.

Google doesn’t own the domain names LegalizeLove.com and LegaliseLove.com. A Google spokesperson confirmed to Reglike that it has no affiliation with the site the domain forwards to, fckh8.com.

As the name suggests, FCKH8 takes a bit edgier approach to getting its message across than Google does (and their goals aren’t necessarily the same).

FCKH8 was created by non-profit media campaigner Luke Montgomery. Given his edgy approach, he has this “disclaimer” on the site:

NOTE: We are supporting the work of various groups but they DID NOT create or endorse our F-word-filled sometimes offensive videos or site in any way & often have asked not to be listed 🙂

DomainTools historical records show that Montgomery bought the domain name LegalizeLove.com earlier this year and registered LegaliseLove.com in March.

With Google going big on its campaign, counting a Legalise Love conference, I think it will regret not controlling these domain names.