Muller-Moore, who describes himself as a folk artist who earns a living working as a foster parent for an adult with special needs, said he started using the phrase "eat more kale" in 2000. A farmer friend who grows kale, a leafy vegetable that grows well in Vermont and is known for its nutritional value, asked Muller-Moore to make three T-shirts containing the phrase for his family for $10 each.
A few weeks later, the friend told Muller-Moore that people kept asking for the shirts. The phrase helped him get his silkscreen business going, which he later expanded through the Internet. Now, he prints "eat more kale" on hooded sweatshirts too. And he has the words printed on bumper stickers that are common throughout central Vermont.
Chick fil-A lawyers have threatened to sue him if he does not stop printing the shirts and have demanded that he turn over his website to them. This is yet another example of of corporate legal bullying at a time when the corporate world is lobbying endlessly for "legal reform" and limiting consumer and injury lawsuits against them.
Tastes like hypocrisy rather than chicken to me. Don't these companies have anything to do rather than go after a small time artist promoting green leafy vegetables? I have my own phrase that I will donate to Chik Fil A that they can trademark free of charge. "Uz Less Lwyerz...And Fry More Chikin."
No comments:
Post a Comment