Publix Gets Social Media Accounts Advertising Its Sandwiches Taken Down For Some Reason

Publix Gets Social Media Accounts Advertising Its Sandwiches Taken Down For Some Reason

3 years ago
Anonymous $f-b3Pf4iLZ

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210428/10062346694/publix-gets-social-media-accounts-advertising-sandwiches-taken-down-some-reason.shtml

For sure, the most frustrating examples of dumb trademark disputes are when one party bullies into silence another party for doing something that actually helps the bully. If you need an example of this, you can look to the time Olive Garden tried to take down AllOfGarden.com, a site with a satirical take on the Olive Garden menu. That example is particularly instructive for two reasons. First, AllOfGarden was essentially a tongue-in-cheek love letter to the restaurant chain run by someone who was very much a fan of said chain. Second, Olive Garden eventually apologized and rescinded its threat, due in part to the public backlash and the fact that it must certainly have realized that the site, if anything, helped drive some measure of interest in the restaurant itself.

We will have to see if supermarket chain Publix ends up handling this the same way, because it has apparently bullied someone running social media accounts alerting fans to the availability of a particular sandwich into silence.