(25 Jan 2024, 1:01 pm)Adrian wrote One is a business choosing to advertise their product (in the form of a full wrap), the other is a business, choosing to use someone else's work, to boost their own business. I'd be very surprised if it was used without a licence that they paid for.
It's hard to tell either way, as it benefits both parties really. Not sure what benefit GoNorthEast gets from licencing a brand for the side of a bus, there's certainly very little monetary value to it.
Heck the creators of Magic Roundabout might have paid for the brand if anything, I'm sure there was a film and TV series released at the same time which it promoted. It's no different the 'Imperial Leather The Flume' at Alton Towers which they 100% paid for.