According to our Saturday newspaper, a man in Vermont received a letter
from Chik-fil-A demanding that he “cease and desist” from using the slogan “Eat
more kale.” Motivated to protect his rights, the man patented the phrase and
defied the company. Enter the lawyers. The ruling has come down, and mirabile
dictu, the man prevailed. He may make all the T-shirts and bumper stickers with
the slogan he wishes. Oh, well. As the C-f-A spokeslady said, “Cows eat
kale, too.” Which seems to me to be a non sequitur, but what do I know?Why strange? Because it is virtually unheard of for an individual to go up against a big corporation and win his case. I, many decades after the fact, hold a resentment toward a certain purveyor of fast food, think happy meal, and Ronald. A block north of my father’s residence in a small town not far from here, there was a restaurant called “Mac’s.” Yes, they specialized in hamburgers and fries and such. Comes the Oak Brook megachain to town, building one of its eyesores about three blocks to the west of Mac’s, and jumping with all its feet and force on Mac’s, hauling them into court, claiming that Mac’s was operating in violation of the corporation’s ownership of the world, so to speak. The ugly monstrosity won, and Mac’s has been out of business ever since.
Which is not where I was headed when I started the kale story, but my mind is easily distracted in my old age.
Today's verse: And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! for you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. --Luke 11:46 (RSV)
6 comments:
Not just you! I'm glad the man won on this one. I missed Mac's, the little family owned business in Frankfort that was in existence for many years.
It's okay for CF's employees to have Sunday off but not the newspaper employees who circulate their advertising. Same with Hobby Lobby and its weekly discount coupon in our Sunday paper. Who first said, "Consistency, thou art a jewel?" I think maybe Bryan.
So according to this chicken company no one can say "eat more__"? That's outrageous - and only a Vermonter would take on a large corporation. (I looked this case up - it's been going on a long time.)
Vee, of course we all know the Sunday coupons are printed and stuffed on Saturday. Only the poor newsboy who gets up at 4 o'clock has to work on Sunday, and he's done in time for SS. ;-) Bryan, or Shakespeare, or just about anybody who wishes to make that point.
Grace, the fellow seems to have earned the approbation of his fellow Vermonters, too.
I agree. And the polo club that had to stop using a logo of a polo player on a horse because it was too much like the whatever-designer-it-was' logo, although they had been around longer and- gasp- actually played polo.
No, it's not just you. The corporate takeover of America is well underway, but it is always good to see the little guy prevail once in a while.
Sharkey, sadly, were we to do a comprehensive search of the subject, we might find untold numbers of such cases where a prior use is squelched by the power of corporate litigation.
Jono, a small victory, perhaps, but makes one feel justice is served. Thanks for stopping by. Come again!
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