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They're Taking On The Powerful Kale Lobby
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I like Chick-Fil-A's food, but the chain's public relations leave a lot to be desired. You know about how the company's been linked, distantly, by donations, to religious groups said to have an anti-gay agenda, and now comes the cease-and-desist letter to an artist in Vermont who makes t-shirts imploring "EAT MORE KALE" and wants to trademark that slogan. See, Chick-Fil-A has those ads with the cows holding crudely-painted signs saying "EAT MOR CHIKIN." The shirts a) don't look anything like the "cow handwriting," and b) aren't misspelled. Also, at least in my eyes, nobody would look at the shirts and think it was a Chick-Fil-A production. Or a Kale-Fil-A thing. There's plenty of room for both trademarks to co-exist, and nobody who wants an "EAT MORE KALE" shirt is likely to buy a "EAT MOR CHIKIN" shirt and vice versa. All they needed to do is to tell him, gently, that as long as he keeps the things from directly aping their trademark, they're fine with it. Simple. But that wouldn't make the lawyers the big bucks. (New York Times)
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