Oh, Nutella — that hazelnut chocolate spread beloved by so many as a spreadable form of candy. Maybe you love Nutella so much you were planning on celebrating with World Nutella Day. Too bad, as the company apparently isn’t a fan of its fans, and apparently issued a cease-and-desist letter to the woman who founded the celebration seven years ago.

Over on her site dedicated to World Nutella Day, the founder writes that there’s one thing that doesn’t go perfectly with Nutella, and that’s company lawyers.

Neatorama gives a little background on the situation, noting that the event has grown from just  couple foodies posting recipes on their blogs to thousands of people devoting various forms of art to the stuff, all out of an overwhelming love of chocolate hazelnut spread.

As the founder writes in part on her site, that’s all about to end this week:

On May 25, 2013, I’ll be darkening the World Nutella Day site, nutelladay.com, and all social media presence (Facebook, Twitter), in compliance with a cease-and-desist I received from lawyers representing Ferrero, SpA (makers of Nutella).

Seven years after the first World Nutella Day in 2007, I never thought the idea of dedicating a day to come together for the love of a certain hazelnut spread would be embraced by so many people! I’ve seen the event grow from a few hundred food bloggers posting recipes to thousands of people Tweeting about it, pinning recipes on Pinterest, and posting their own contributions on Facebook! There have been songs sung about it, short films created for it, poems written for it, recipes tested for it, and photos taken for it.

The cease-and-desist letter was a bit of a surprise and a disappointment, as over the years I’ve had contact and positive experiences with several employees of Ferrero, SpA., and with their public relations and brand strategy consultants, and I’ve always tried to collaborate and work together in the spirit and goodwill of a fan-run celebration of a spread I (to this day) still eat.

I have hope that this is not a goodbye to World Nutella Day forever, for the fans’ sake, and hopefully it will live on in one form or another in the future.

So if you’re planning on touting your love of Nutella, just stick a spoon in it and whisper sweet words of love to it by the glow of the TV/computer monitor. Just don’t take it out into the world, or face the consequences.

A Goodbye to World Nutella Day? [WorldNutellaDay.com]
Nutella Lawyers Hate It When Fans Love Nutella [Neatorama]

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