Pork Pushers Protest Sale of Unicorn Meat

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Pork Pushers Protest Sale of Unicorn Meat


The National Pork Board [http://www.pork.org/] of the United States has threatened legal action against ThinkGeek for infringing on its "Other White Meat" trademark in advertisements for canned unicorn meat.

"Unicorns, as we all know, frolic all over the world, pooping rainbows and marshmallows wherever they go," says the ad for Radiant Farms' Canned Unicorn Meat. And as they age, they are magically drawn to Ireland, where the Sisters at Radiant Farms nurse them through their final days, massaging Guinness into their coats every day and fattening them up with candy corn. "Pâté is passé," the ad says. "Unicorn - The New White Meat [http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/unicorn-meat.shtml]."

Unfortunately for the Sisters and unicorn connoisseurs around the globe, the ad, which coincidentally or not debuted on April 1, caught the attention of the sharp minds at the National Pork Board, which is responsible for research, consumer information and the promotion of pork as a food product. Its most famous work is the "Pork: The Other White Meat [http://www.theotherwhitemeat.com/]" advertising campaign, which dates all the way back to 1987 and is still in use today. Slogans with that kind of staying power are very few and far-between, so it should come as no surprise that the Pork Board acts very aggressively to protect it.

Thus did the Pork Board, through the law firm of ThinkGeek [http://www.faegre.com/], advising it that the unicorn meat ad violates "The Other White Meat" mark held by the NPB. In response, ThinkGeek has issued a public apology for the unintended confusion, assuring the Pork Board that it is not attempting to supplant pork with unicorn meat.

"It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn," Geeknet President and CEO Scott Kauffman said in a press release [http://www.thinkgeek.com/files/thinkgeek-unicornmeatrelease.pdf]. "In fact, ThinkGeek's canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red and not approved by any government entity."

ThinkGeek also apologized for the long, awkward pause in the conversation when it explained to the Pork Board over the telephone that unicorn meat doesn't actually exist.

Thanks to The_root_of_all_evil [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/The_root_of_all_evil] for the tip.


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tomtom94

aka "Who?"
May 11, 2009
3,373
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GO VEGETARIAN AND END THIS BARBARITY No, I will not be militant, I will let people make their own choices.

Personally I'm really confused as to exactly how this infringes on the trademark. They say "New" the other company say "Other". HOW IS THAT THE SAME?
 

Idlemessiah

Zombie Steve Irwin
Feb 22, 2009
1,050
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Wow. Some people have no sense of humour.
I mean, 'They stole our slogan to sell canned unicorn meat.'And these are supposed to be grown men...
 

dragontiers

The Temporally Displaced
Feb 26, 2009
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I may be misinformed, but wouldn't this be covered under satire? I thought it would be fairly obvious from the fact it's Unicorn Meat that they weren't being serious, and were not introducing a competing product. I don't see how this violates their mark, even if it is kind of similar.
 

Baldr

The Noble
Jan 6, 2010
1,739
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Satire is never(unless it is parody) protected under free speech, however parody is under copyright law, however this is not a copyright issue, but a trademark issue... If a consumer can confuse the product whether be parody or not, then there is a legal case.
 

Ne1butme

New member
Nov 16, 2009
491
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If an Avatar porn parody can be marketed and sold, then i suspect Unicorn Meat will be safe.
 

Femaref

New member
May 4, 2008
186
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Baldr said:
Satire is never protected under free speech, however parody is under copyright law, however this is not a copyright issue, but a trademark issue... If a consumer can confuse the product whether be parody or not, then there is a legal case.
Somebody really thinking that unicorns are killed and processed for meat also thinks that welsh dragon sausages are made from welsh dragons.
 

Blueruler182

New member
May 21, 2010
1,549
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Hahahahahahaha!

Oh god, I love the times we live in. Between this and the African American community over reacting to that graduation card, and the arguments against gaming, I'll have shit to laugh about for years...
 

Dr. wonderful

New member
Dec 31, 2009
3,260
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...That had to be the most stupid thing I heard all week.

It was a joke article, they can't take a joke, then they are doom.

Epic reponse by the way.
 

dragontiers

The Temporally Displaced
Feb 26, 2009
497
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Baldr said:
Satire is never(unless it is parody) protected under free speech, however parody is under copyright law, however this is not a copyright issue, but a trademark issue... If a consumer can confuse the product whether be parody or not, then there is a legal case.
Satire is protected by free speech, otherwise comedians like Steven Colbert would be out of a job and in jail. SNL wouldn't still be live on Saturday night or any other. Yes, if there is an actual product similar to another that uses a similar tag-line, then copyright issues come up, but as the article stated, Unicorn Meat isn't an actual edible meat product. It's more a comedy prop like my can of dehydrated water. Therefore, I don't see how a consumer could confuse the two. I still say no one's rights have been violated.

Femaref said:
Somebody really thinking that unicorns are killed and processed for meat also thinks that welsh dragon sausages are made from welsh dragons.
I thought they were sausages made from dragons in the welsh style. Shows you how much I know ;p
 

Johnnyallstar

New member
Feb 22, 2009
2,928
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Isn't pork on a campaign right now for a new slogan since they think that "The other white meat" is outdated?

I love Think Geek, and hope that it doesn't come down to a lawsuit.

Of course, I think the pork people would be much more satisfied if they would use my slogan "Pork: The one you love."
 

LostTimeLady

New member
Dec 17, 2009
733
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Oh... dear... is all I can really say to that (or should it be oh unicorn?).
It makes me laugh that this was taken so seriously when unicorns don't (to our knowledge) exist. I know copyright infringment is a bad thing but this is equivilent to Rowntree's fruit gums taking action against the Goodies (old UK TV show ask you're parents if you're under the age of twenty) for infringement on the slogon 'Goodie, Goodie gum gum'. Or visa vera, I can't remember which came first, 'Goodie, Goodie yum, yum' or 'Goodie, Goodie, gum gum'. Very silly.
And thus ends my tortured metaphore/reference.