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This story is so far one of the dumbest, most ridiculous things I've heard about so far this year. The Lactivist (a hobby site run by a blogger who is a work-at-home mother, whose intent is to educate the public, create awareness, and promote breastfeeding and human milk banking) has been handed a Cease and Desist order from the US National Pork Board, for allegedly violating their trademark "the other white meat". Say whaaa? To raise money to fund the site and for non-profit milk banks, this blogger has a CafePress store that sells t-shirts with funny breastfeeding slogans. Including one that says "the other white milk" on it, which is of course, the source of the Pork Board's complaint. In short, the Lactivist says "Apparently the National Pork Board is worried that someone might come to my breastfeeding blog, check out the shirts and worry that when I say "white milk" what I really mean is "thick and juicy, straight from the hog PORK."" Um, yeah, that was the first thought that came to my mind, if I saw that slogan plastered across a pair of breasts. "Mmmm, that gives me a real hankerin' for a nice thick pork chop". Yup.
Seriously, where do they find the people to come up with stuff like this? Oh, but that's not even the REAL funny part of it. The issue they seem to have the biggest problem with is shown in the following portion of the C&D letter: "In addition, your use of this slogan also tarnishes the good reputation of the National Pork Board's mark in light of your apparent attempt to promote the use of breastmilk beyond merely for infant consumption, such as with the following slogans on your website in close proximity to the slogan "The Other White Milk." "Dairy Diva," "Nursing, Nature's Own Breast Enhancement," "Eat at Mom's, fast-fresh-from the breast," and "My Milk is the Breast." Apparent use of breastmilk beyond infant consumption? Are these people serious?! What could possibly give anyone even the slightest idea that this is the case? I have a hard time believing anyone would get that idea if it was simply a site selling humourous shirts, never mind a site with the focus on good infant feeding that the Lactivist has! What makes the story even more galling, is the fact that instead of simply sending a nice friendly email to the author requesting that she discontinue the use of this supposed trademark violation, the National Pork Board and their lawyers at Faegre & Benson, came out in full force with legal paperwork and the threat of further legal action. You can read the rest of the story about the National Pork Board Bullies here. Thanks to Shoemoney for posting about this as well, which is where I first heard this story. |
