Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said he had a conference call with the NFL's general counsel to discuss cease-and-desist letters some Louisiana T-shirt makers received from the league. The letters demanded they stop selling shirts featuring the phrase that's part of a popular cheer by Saints fans, citing trademark infringement.
"They've conceded and they've said they have no intention of claiming the fleur-de-lis, which would be ridiculous, or the 'Who Dat,' which would be equally ridiculous," Caldwell said in an interview. The fleur-de-lis is a traditional symbol of New Orleans that's featured on Saints helmets.
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Lauren Thom, owner of the Fleurty Girl T-shirt shop in New Orleans, said she's changed the product description of her "Who Dat" shirts after getting a letter from the NFL demanding she quit selling them. She's sold out of her stock and is now managing back orders.
"Yes it disrupted business, but it's been kind of great as well. We've had lines of people waiting to buy our merchandise," Thom said. "One lady told me she wanted to buy anything in the store that was not NFL-licensed. I told her 'that's everything in the store!"'
"What started out as a letter that scared the bejesus out of me, has turned out to be the best thing ever for my business," she said.
Seems that a good many folks shared our desire - no official NFL stuff. The shop in Jefferson Parish where we purchased the items in the picture above was doing a brisk business while were there. We purchased our yard sign at the shop, along with a T-shirt for Grandpère and a pewter butter dish with a fleur-de-lis handle on the cover for me.
Story from the AP. Thanks to Ann for the link.
I can just imagine the NFL trying to insist your butter dish (really nice, BTW) is really an infringement of their license. I think they really overstepped the bounds of legality and are peddling backwards rather quickly.
ReplyDeletethe wv=gagiest. Which is how I feel about the whole "hoo hah" about who dat. Glad the stores are benefiting.
Amelia, the idea that the NFL could lay claim to "Who dat?", the fleur-de-lis, and black and gold was ever absurd.
ReplyDeleteI just shared your post on FaceBook. Our Rector's wife had made a comment on FB a couple of days ago saying something to the effect, "Who Dat? that says they own Who Dat?" (She did her undergraduate degree at LSU.) She should be very interested in your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Facebook link, Boocat.
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