Sunday, December 14, 2014

Eat Mor Kalekin

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.

Chik-fil-A does not open on Sunday, a choice they made and of which I approve.  They say, in effect, it allows a day in which their employees may worship or spend time with family.  Christian values, don’t you see?  But on the other hand, suing someone who will not bend to their will is perfectly fine.  It’s the American way, don’t you know?  It probably is just me, but the juxtaposition of these positions seems incongruous.  Yes, that’s it.  It is just me.


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:

Vee said...

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.

Grace said...

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.)

vanilla said...

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.

Sharkbytes said...

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.

Jono said...

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.

vanilla said...

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!