The National Pork Board would like to make you aware that if you are going to refer to the color of your unicorn meat, you must refrain from using the following 4 words, meat, the, white, and other in a particular order.
As a side note, saying that it was an April Fool’s post is not a valid defense.
While this issue is different than the NYT -vs- Neighborhoodies claim, simply because the pork slogan is actively used, the manner in which the board pursued this issue is a bit dramatic. A cease & desist letter sent to Geeknet, the parent company of ThinkGeek, refers to the use of the infringing phrase in the original ThinkGeek post and also references a Facebook page. The C & D even references a post on an entirely different site which, as far as I am aware, is not owned by Geeknet, but rather a small company called, Time Warner. I wonder if the Pork Board sent them a letter.
Ironically, the Pork board is considering ending the use of the slogan in question.
View the original post.
See the C & D letter.
Read the ThinkGeek Press Release.
In a show of humanity, Geeknet has released the following statement:
“It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn,” said Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet. “In fact, ThinkGeek’s canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red, and not approved by any government entity.”
We’d also like to extend a special discount to everyone we offended with our portrayal of Unicorn Meat as “the new ‘w’ meat.” For a limited time, take $10 off any order of $40 or more by using the code PORKBOARD at checkout, good until 6/30/2010 at 11:59PM ET.
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