It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I’m back (and recovered from the 48-hour insulin coma fest I put myself through). What can I say: I’m powerless when it comes to my mom’s homemade apple pie. And don’t even get me started when it comes to stuffing and pumpkin rolls.
Needless to say, it was great to see my entire family and spend some quality time with them – as it is, I’m only able to make it home once or twice per year. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend the rest of the weekend trying to detox my body. Once we made it back to Boston Saturday night, Lisa and I bee-lined it to Trader Joe’s and bought enough greens to feed an army.
Which serves as a perfect segue to today’s dose of WTF.
Last week I was sent THIS (includes video) story from a local news station about a New England area artist, Bo, who’s also a small biz owner behind the slogan “Eat More Kale.” It’s a labor of love for Bo, who’s been hand making EVERY t-shirt that’s ordered for the past eleven years. He even made mine, which Lisa got for me last year for my birthday.
I love it. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been walking around with it on, and some random person approaches me and asks “what the heck is kale?” or comments “your shirt rocks!” What’s more, one time, I even had someone walk past me and throw me a friendly high-five and say “I eat kale, too!” As if to imply that we were both part of some secret society.
It’s a conversation stimulator if there ever was one. Plus, the t-shirt clearly increases the gunnage factor of my arms, which is always cool.
Anyways, as I noted above, Bo has been using this slogan for upwards of eleven years and he’s FINALLY reached the point where he’s ready to grow and make this thing go viral. He applied for a federal trademark recently only to receive a document from a lawyer stating that “Eat More Kale” too closely resembled that of the fast food chain Chick-fil-A, who’s slogan “Eat Mor Chikin,” clearly draws from the exact same audience (note sarcasm).
Lets think about this for a second. While I’m a clear exception, I’d have to say 80-90% of the people who purchase an Eat More Kale t-shirt are most likely vegetarian.
Moreover, what’s the likelihood that anyone who goes out of their way to purchase an “Eat More Kale” t-shirt would even step foot in a fast food chain?
Taking it a step further, how can anyone claim the slogan “Eat More…..[insert whatever you want here]” as their own? So, if I were to make a shirt that said Eat More Diarrhea, would Chick-fil-A come after me?????
According to the lawyer, who’s clearly a douchebag to the douchiest degree, Eat More Kale:
“…….is a clear encroachment upon Chick-fil-A’s prior and superior nationwide trademark rights.” Furthermore, Chick-fil-A somehow feels that Bo’s one-man show t-shirt company is deluding the profits of their corporation.
I just feel that this is probably the most absurd thing I have ever heard, highlighting corporate bullying at its finest, and just goes to show that big food are a bunch of dicks.
Do me a favor, if this pisses you off just as much as me, go HERE to sign a petition that will demand that Chick-fil-A stop being a bunch of a-holes and prevent them from blocking EAT MORE KALE’s attempt at a federal trademark.
Consider it your good deed for the day.
