Food: November 2011 Archives

Sometimes the world of naming and branding just gets darn ugly when it comes to trademark spats.

The news going around the Internet this week is that Vermont artist Bo Muller-Moore is going head-to-head with the Atlanta-based, Chik-fil-A, fast food chain over the fact that he uses a hand silkscreen to print the words "Eat More Kale" to t-shirts.

The company feels that Muller-Moore is creating a likelihood of confusion with their slogan, which is, of course, "Eat More Chicken."

In a recent letter, the fast food chain states that the artist's slogan "is likely to cause confusion of the public and dilutes the distinctiveness of Chick-fil-A's intellectual property and diminishes its value."

They have successfully defended their trademark against thirty others who have tried to use a similar slogan, but this one has caught the Web's attention because it is such a David and Goliath story.

They want him to not only stop using the slogan, but to hand over his web site as well - www.eatmorekale.com.

We're talking about a fast food chain that is second only to KFC in the chicken biz.

Suing a t-shirt guy.

In Vermont.

I see no similarity in design, typeface or font between the two slogans. I think kale and chicken are easy to distinguish from one another, I probably am going to side with the blogosphere on this one.

One blogger targeted Chik-fil-A's mission statement that promises that the company will "glorify God."

Another has posted the Chik-fil-A ads next to pictures of the offending Eat More Kale t-shirts to illustrate just how small time this guy is, and how different the two slogans are.

And other bloggers have some fairly strong language reserved for Chik-fil-A and are calling for a boycott.

A law school professor in Vermont noted that a similar fight erupted between microbrewer 'Vermonster' and energy drink giant 'Monster' which was settled when the brewer agreed to never move into the wacky world of energy drinks.

Muller-Moore is not backing down and has enlisted the help of a local lawyer who really puts it best when he says "At the end of the day, I don't think anyone will step forward and say they bought an 'Eat More Kale' shirt thinking it was a Chick-fil-A product."

Technorati Tags: Chick-fil-A, Eat Mor Chiken, Eat More Kale, Trademark, Slogans

The news that Starbucks is getting into the juice business comes as no surprise.

The fact that they offer so many products in their stores including food and cold drinks (lemonade and other juices), has long indicated that they want the brand to mean more to us than just coffee.

They dropped $30 million on a small juice company called Evolution Fresh Inc., which has a large presence on the West Coast. The Evolution beverages will replace the Naked Inc. beverages sold in Starbucks stores, as well as go into supermarkets with evolution.

Whether they rebrand these juices or not, one element of their strategy is to use their presence in the Starbucks stores to generate awareness. The WSJ quotes Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz as saying that getting these juices in front of the 60 million people who frequent Starbucks each week is "equivalent to airing a commercial on the top three television shows weekly." Maybe, maybe not.

Additionally, the company has announced plans to open a new chain centered on wholesome beverages and food that will tap into the $1.6 billion juice market and the $50 billion health foods market.

No matter what the stores are called, "Starbucks has the clout, marketing savvy and name recognition to make its juice and health foods a premium brand and take market share from competitors," or so the LA Times quotes one expert enthusing.

But will they use the brand equity of Starbucks?

It's a tough call, but I would imagine they will in some form or another, partly because it seems obvious that the juice stores will offer coffee and other goodies, and people already see Starbucks as a spot where they can get a myriad of products.

Apple Computer changed its name to Apple, Inc. as it broadened its product line with iPods, iPhones, and iPads. This was a great move despite initial skepticism in the industry that the company would struggle to sell in these new product categories.

Juice has long been an open gambit for Starbucks anyway, and as Seattlepi says, $30 million is "chump change" to the coffee giant.

If Starbucks goes into this venture wholeheartedly, they could transform the juice business the way they transformed coffee.

Remember when people thought expensive coffee wouldn't work?

Technorati Tags: Coffee, Starbucks, Juice, Branding, Naming, Marketing