Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Only in America
Here's a strange story coming out of New York City. The street performer known as the Naked Cowboy is suing M&M for trademark infringement. He plays his acoustic guitar in the Time Square wearing only a cowboy hat, boots, and underpants, and has become something of a New York icon.
Enough of an icon, in fact, that the Mars Corporation dressed a blue M&M up as him on a billboard and people got the joke. The problem is that the "Naked Cowboy" image has in fact been trademarked by Robert Burck, the street performer who created the persona. He's suing for $100 million in punitive damages.
That's a little steep, in my opinion. It's like, what, 400 gallons of gas (in New York)? In all seriousness, though, if M&M is going to use his likeness to sell their product, it stands to reason that he should be compensated, but if they had approached him about it and he had asked for $100 million, methinks that M&M would have gone a different route.
But I have one burning question. Actually, I have a lot of questions, but most of them are sarcasm and rhetoric. What I want to know is: how much money is he making as a street performer that he trademarked his appearance?
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Enough of an icon, in fact, that the Mars Corporation dressed a blue M&M up as him on a billboard and people got the joke. The problem is that the "Naked Cowboy" image has in fact been trademarked by Robert Burck, the street performer who created the persona. He's suing for $100 million in punitive damages.
That's a little steep, in my opinion. It's like, what, 400 gallons of gas (in New York)? In all seriousness, though, if M&M is going to use his likeness to sell their product, it stands to reason that he should be compensated, but if they had approached him about it and he had asked for $100 million, methinks that M&M would have gone a different route.
But I have one burning question. Actually, I have a lot of questions, but most of them are sarcasm and rhetoric. What I want to know is: how much money is he making as a street performer that he trademarked his appearance?
FoxTrax GPS Fleet Tracking
Clever solutions for vehicle tracking
www.FoxtTaxGPS.com
888-779-8870
Labels: current events, humor
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