As we reported last month, a group of KFC franchisees is clucking mad with what they say is the company’s increased focus on grilled chicken. Now both sides are fighting it out in a Delaware courtroom, where a judge will decide who has the ultimate authority to guide the direction of KFC’s marketing and advertising. [More]
lawsuits
Man Files Suit Alleging Sam's Club Ruined His Love Life
By 9.17.10
It’s not surprising to hear that a woman in Illinois has filed a lawsuit against Sam’s Club after she slipped and fell inside one of the warehouse stores. But it’s not every day we read about that woman’s husband also filing a lawsuit against the discount chain, all because he can no longer consort with his wife. [More]
"World Progress Report" Latest Incarnation Of Vision Media
By 9.16.10 — Updated: 10.8.14
In April, NPR reported on how Vision Media was calling up non-profits, promising them a Hugh Downs-anchored PBS special. All they would have to do is underwrite the production costs. Instead, those who signed up and paid up got a pile of poorly made ads on DVD, and no airtime. Now the firm seems to once again changed names and hosts. They’re going by “World Progress Report” and the ostensible anchor is former Good Morning America newscaster Joan Lunden. [More]
IHOP Sues IHOP Over IHOP Trademark
By 9.15.10
It’s a battle of biblical proportions as one IHOP — better known as the International House of Pancakes — fights another IHOP — the International House of Prayer — over the use of those four famous letters. [More]
The Candwich Is Real! Sorta.
By 9.9.10
I thought the Candwich was a hoagie-in-the-sky scheme stringing along hapless, and, sometimes, unwitting, investors, but here’s some video of actual market-ready sandwiches rolling off the Mark One production line. Unfortunately, instead of a pre-made sandwich in a can, they are simply sandwich ingredients in a can, consisting of a bagged bun with a packet of jelly and a packet of peanut butter. This is not the future I was looking forward to. [More]
Man Sues Whole Foods Over Exploding Green Tea
By 9.9.10
Some people drink tea to put a little spark into their day, but a Nashville man got explosions instead. He’s suing Starbucks and Whole Foods after bottles of Tazo green tea exploded twice in his possession. One time the bottle shattered in his hand, and another it blew up in his shopping cart. On one of the occasions, shards of glass damaged tendons in his hand that required two surgeries. [More]
Google Settles Buzz Lawsuit For $8.5 Million; You Don't Get Any Of It
By 9.6.10
Hey, remember when Google signed everyone up for Buzz without asking and revealed their private contact lists? The company has now settled a class action lawsuit brought by seven Gmail users. The BBC says that 30% will go to the legal team, while each of those seven users will get $2,500. The rest will not be turned into Google stickers or free AdSense ads for you, but instead will be “shared among organisations that promote online privacy.” [More]
Court Rejects Lawsuit Against Ladies Nights
By 9.6.10
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a New York lawyer’s claims that “ladies nights” at bars were unconstitutional because they forced men to pay more. The lawyer says he’s going to appeal to the Supreme Court, but he admitted to the New York Daily News that the odds the court will agree to hear his case are “about the same as some pretty young lady paying my way on a date.” [More]
War Declares War On Pepsi Over Song Used In TV Spot
By 9.3.10
War’s 1975 hit song “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” is all about hugging it out and making nice, but don’t tell that four of the band’s original members, who have filed a suit against Pepsi, alleging the beverage company didn’t get proper permission to use the tune in their currently running TV spots for Pepsi Max. [More]
DC Comics Goes Batty, Fights BBQ Restaurant Over Trademark
By 9.2.10
Had the owner’s of BATS BBQ in Rock Hill, SC, not attempted to file a trademark application for their logo (see image to the left), they probably wouldn’t have drawn the attention of lawyers for DC Comics, who say the bat icon used in the logo is a little too similar to one of the many Batman logos they have already trademarked. [More]
McDonald's Makes Hot Chocolate Hot, Gets Sued When It Spills
By 8.26.10
Almost 16 years to the day after a jury ordered McDonald’s to pay a customer $2 million in the infamous hot coffee lawsuit, it’s deja vu all over again for the fast food giant. A Chicago-area woman has filed a lawsuit against the Golden Arches over a spilled hot beverage; the difference this time is that it’s hot chocolate. [More]
Tax Lady Roni Deutch Sued For $34 Million By California AG
By 8.24.10
Last week, when we asked for nominations for really horrible TV ads, self-described “Tax Lady” Roni Deutch’s name was mentioned more than a couple times. Adding insult to injury, Roni is now being sued for over $34 million by the California Attorney General over allegations that her heavily advertised tax relief service doesn’t actually live up to its promises. [More]
Couple Says Real Estate Agent Used Their Home For Sex
By 8.23.10
Earlier this month, a couple in Minnesota filed a lawsuit against a local Coldwell Banker franchise and a real estate agent the company employed, alleging that the agent used the home for sexcapades while they were out of town, ruining their furniture, bedding and carpet. Neighbors say he showed up one day with an unidentified man and said they were going to be preparing the home for an open house, but no open house was held. Or at least not one the neighbors could see; maybe he uses that phrase in a different way. [More]
Family Drinks Milk Containing Dead Mouse For 3 Days, Sues Walmart
By 8.20.10
I’ve never tasted milk that contained the corpse of a dead mouse, so I can’t say whether or not it would be noticeable, but a couple in Kentucky claim they drank three days’ worth of moused-up milk they’d purchased at Sam’s Club before ever noticing the rotting rodent inside. Now, as happens in these situations, they have filed a lawsuit. [More]
Mom Sues NYC Chocolate Shop Over Breastfeeding Argument
By 8.17.10
Bringing together two of our favorite topics — lawsuits and chocolate — a new mom in New York City has filed a lawsuit against the chocolate store she says gave her the boot for attempting to nurse her child. [More]
Don't Confuse Medical Discount Plans With Health Insurance
By 8.17.10
If you don’t have health insurance, you might hear about a medical discount plan and think that it’s an affordable alternative, but be careful. Some of the plans being sold don’t lower your health care costs at all, and in some cases can even increase them. That’s why the the FTC and 24 states have recently filed a total of 54 lawsuits against companies selling medical discount plans to people who don’t have health insurance. [More]
California Says Some Bouncy Castles Have Too Much Lead In Them
By 8.17.10
California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown, has filed a lawsuit that claims too many inflatable structures used at kids’ parties come with high levels of lead in the vinyl–“sometimes dozens of times the federal limit,” reports the New York Times. One of the defendants said the lawsuit was a “witch hunt,” and warned that it would have a chilling effect on what the Times calls the “bounce-house industry.” [More]
Woman Says Donald Duck Groped Her
By 8.16.10
Did Disney’s eternally overreacting duck mascot put the moves on a woman visiting Epcot Center a couple of years ago? That’s what the woman claims happened; in her lawsuit, she says a park employee dressed as Donald Duck grabbed her breast and molested her, “then made gestures making a joke indicating he had done something wrong.” She’s asking for $50,000. [More]
