Chick-fil-A Gets Slimy About Kale

Published on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, by Rebecca Flint Marx / Edit Post

Although many Americans can’t tell kale from a head of iceberg lettuce, pretty much everyone can agree that it looks nothing like chicken. Everyone, that is, but Chick-fil-A. In the multimillion-dollar fast-food chain’s beady little eyes, kale looks a lot like trademark infringement.

According to the Associated Press (quoted in the New York Daily News), Chick-fil-A has taken issue with Bo Muller-Moore, a Vermont folk artist whose one-man business is built around T-shirts printed with the slogan “Eat More Kale.” Chick-fil-A’s own trademarked phrase is, of course, “Eat Mor Chikn.” Despite the rather obvious differences between the two phrases—for one, Muller-Moore can spell—a lawyer for the Atlanta-based corporation sent Muller-Moore a cease-and-desist letter contending that “Eat More Kale” "is likely to cause confusion of the public and dilutes the distinctiveness of Chick-fil-A's intellectual property and diminishes its value." The letter also demanded that Muller-Moore surrender his website, eatmorekale.com, to Chick-fil-A.

Muller-Moore, who has been using “Eat More Kale” since 2000 and filed a (still pending) trademark application last summer, received similar letters from Chick-fil-A five years ago, and has hired a lawyer. One of his supporters has started an online petition demanding that the country’s second-largest retailer of fried fowl “stop bullying small business owners.” So far, it’s gotten more than 13,000 signatures; as one signee commented, “I don’t even like kale but this is just fucked up.”

Whether or not the case makes it all the way to the highest court in the land, it at least seems to have been good for Muller-Moore’s bottom line: “Due to unusually high demand,” a message on his website reads, “please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.”

Image sources: Chick-fil-A Nuggets from Flickr member j.reed under Creative Commons; kale image from Shutterstock

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POST A COMMENT |12 Comments

COMMENT

  • So when my mom told me to eat more vegetables, she was really biting chik-fil-a's marketing strategy? Yearite. This is gonna get thrown out faster than you can eat a waffle fry. I can't believe this is the type of crap that's tying up my legal system.

  • Oops, that's apocAlypse.

  • Intellectual property and Chick-Fil-A in the same sentence? The apoclypse is nigh!

    Eat mo' possum!

  • Cmocva,
    "...of an overtly Christian organization..."

    I had been going to Chick-Fil-A for years before I knew that the owner was Christian. And I learned it here.

    It turns out that there is some sort of biblical reference at the bottom of the drink containers.

    I had never gone on a weekend so I did not notice that the place was closed on Sundays. And, if had, I might have thought they...+READ

    Cmocva,
    "...of an overtly Christian organization..."

    I had been going to Chick-Fil-A for years before I knew that the owner was Christian. And I learned it here.

    It turns out that there is some sort of biblical reference at the bottom of the drink containers.

    I had never gone on a weekend so I did not notice that the place was closed on Sundays. And, if had, I might have thought they were simply being old-fashioned or nice to their employees.

    Personally, I am not religious, but the hate for this kind of owner is often palpable on Chowhound. Obviously, it comes from the squeaky wheel, but it can definitely be off-putting.-COLLAPSE

  • @jpc8015 "hatred for all things Christian"???? give me break, quit your whining... criticism of the unchristian behavior of an overtly Christian organization does not imply hatred of all things Christian, hatred of hypocrites maybe... But i think we can both agree that disliking hypocrites does not qualify one as an intolerant bigot.

  • Aramek, I think that you are slightly off when you say, "And I don't think anybody hates the Christians."

    Because, I am reading, "Good christian company also equals republican, which also equals exploiting capitalism and related laws to their fullest extent."

    and

    "Ah....the conduct of a 'good Christian company' makes you smile and warms the heart, doesn't it?"

  • It's not that this is a uniquely christian move

    It's just that being christian hardly precludes this sort of behaviour.

    Denominational christianity espouses denominational christian values, which are not necessarily prosocial in nature.

  • I can understand sending C&D if they were using "Hersey" in their fan blend names. But in this case, this slogan seems different enough, and does not reference the original brand at all.

    And I don't think anybody hates the Christians. We just wish they would stop trying to ruin all the non-Christians lives is all.

  • The only reason this is even news is because Chick-Fil-A has donated money to support traditional marriage. There was nary a peep from anybody when Hershey's sent Adagio teas an equally petty letter to cease and desist for some customer named blends on their website. The hatred for all things Christian is amazing.

  • eat more beef! (oops, now they're really going to get me!)

  • Good christian company also equals republican, which also equals exploiting capitalism and related laws to their fullest extent.

  • Ah....the conduct of a 'good Christian company' makes you smile and warms the heart, doesn't it?