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Penny Arcade vs. American Greetings

Posted by timothy on from the stomping-on-the-underdog dept.

ferrocene writes "Penny Arcade's American Mcgee/Strawberry Shortcake spoof posted last Monday was pulled because someone at American Greetings got wind of it and set their lawyers on them. PA's forums are abuzz with activity. I'm pro-funny, myself."

4 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. How about it... by bgog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does anyone have this comic mirrored anywhere? I'm sure we'd all love to see what the fuss is about.

  2. My email to the company by Glyndwr · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You know, you really should stop and take stock: how much harm was that parody *really* doing you? How much harm has this heavy-handed action *really* done you? Is this really how you want to be percevied by potential customers?

    Short, to the point, and not abusive. Hopefully they will take note. Frankly, I think they need to lighten up.

    --
    You win again, gravity!
  3. Easy boycott by Galvatron · · Score: 4, Interesting
    With Mother's Day just around the corner (May 11th), this is an easy boycott to participate in. Make sure not to buy cards from American or Carlton. By the time the next holiday rolls around, the situation will probably be resolved.

    Between Penny-Arcade and Slashdot readers, there are probably enough people to make a difference in their Mother's Day card sales, and unlike boycotting the entire movie industry, this is a really easy one to do. Also, unlike with an MPAA member boycott, they won't simply be able to attribute declining sales to increasing piracy.

    So buy Hallmark, tell your friends to do likewise, and let the American Greetings Company know you're doing it. Maybe we can start to teach companies that in the information age, sending out indiscriminate C&D letters in the hopes of intimidation will cause more harm than good to their brand names.

    --
    "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
  4. They need to talk to Brad Templeton by Quila · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When Mastercard sent him a nastygram over a sick parody on Netfunny of their "...for everything else, there's Mastercard" ads, he sent them back a response -- in the form of a Mastercard ad parody:
    Web site hosting for anybody: $10/month and up

    Threatening letters to people who satirize you, hoping they won't know the law: $500

    Reputation as giant corporation required to intimidate small publishers: $billions

    Supreme court decisions protecting parody and satire from accusations of copyright and trademark infringement... Priceless

    There are some rights money can't buy. For everything else, there's Mastercard's lawyers.
    Of course, it didn't help Mastercard that the target of their attempted intimidation is the chairman of the EFF.