This Phanatic won't fly with lawyers
A team in Saturday's Red Bull Flugtag event has been ordered to remove all vestiges of the Phillies from their contraption.
This Phanatic won't fly with lawyers
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Saturday's Red Bull Flugtag promises to be a hoot:
Thirty-two teams will attempt to send homemade flying machines soaring off a high ramp on the Camden waterfront, only to splash in the Delaware.
Sounds like the Mummers Parade meets Wildwater Kingdom.
And now lawyers are involved.
The five people in the "Phlyin Phanatics" learned Thursday that their contraption -- a 22-foot-wide version of the Phillie Phanatic -- was on shaky legal ground.
Event sponsor Red Bull slapped the group with a verbal cease-and-desist, directing the group to remove the likeness of the Phanatic and all reference to the Phillies, according to Phanatics member Julie Jones, whose day job is in business development with a corporation.
Jones said Major League Baseball lawyers were applying pressure to Red Bull.
"We started building this in April or May, and sent in drawings," she told me. "Red Bull approved the sketches. They even came out and saw it in progress."
She said they'd put 400 man-hours into the craft.
Late Thursday, a Red Bull rep e-mailed to say: "We are working with the team to make sure they are cleared for takeoff on Saturday."
Friday update:
They will fly the thing on Saturday but without the head.
The head will be the center of attention at an afterparty.
Comment removed.
Like, were these hipsters not, like, bright enough to know, like, anything about copyrights and trademarks?— CrayzeeGuy- Hipsters? What the hell are you talking about CrayzeeGuy? Moron. Sad the Phillies didn't embrace these fans dedication. A good PR rep would use this to show how fan-friendly the team is. It's not like these people were making money, unlike those unlicensed vendors selling knockoff Phillies gear outside the stadium, across from city hall, and in shops all over the city.
- @Jesus... no one was making money? Then why is Red Bull sponsoring the event if they are not making money?— CrayzeeGuy
Agreed w/ @Jesus_the_Gardener. Why can't the Phillies and the MLB embrace loyal fan support and get some free advertising out of it? This is absurd. Whatever media coverage the Flutag thing is going to get will simply be a free channel for the Phanatic to be showcased in. Why stop people from giving you free advertising?— mikeyil- Comment removed.
- This would be fun if it could be entered. The Phillies would get free publicity. Just add a note in the program *this is not an official phillies product, but is a nod to the team, completely unassociated. etc...— kristoffe
- Who better to be representing Philly and the great Phillies but the Phanatic in the Red Bull Flutag? Shame on the much loved team and their mascot for not embracing these talented and spirited young Piladelphians! I was so excited to see this group fly in the flutag! Now who knows if we will be able to see all the hard work and efforts that were put into this entry! legal schmeagel bs ... let them FLY!— Soopie
- Maybe the Phillies don't want to be associated with idiots and a drink that causes heart disease.— Economics
- "...don't want to be associated with idiots"? Do you know anything about Philly fans? This season, a kid proudly got tasered at a game and another purposely puked on a family at another. The city also spent a lot of time and money greasing the light poles during last year's World Series to make sure no one shimmied up and ripped down a traffic light (again). This is a city full for d-bags. But why are these guys "hipsters" and "idiots" for wanting to show a little hometown pride? I will never understand why people who show the least bit of interest/creativity/excitement in something are automatically written off as a--holes because of it. As for the Phillies shying away from endorsements--really? You think they have integrity when it comes to accepting money from large corporations? Clearly, with a team playing at Citizen's Bank Park, that must be the case. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that Chooch just signed an endorsement deal with Cintron’s Liquid Energy drinks at the end of August... and the fact he's doing a signing for them September 7th. http://dailyphiladelphian.com/2010/08/30/phillies-chooch-finally-getting-his-props-with-endorsements/ I'm sure Citron is super heart friendly though, right? As good for you as those performance enhancers...— sardon
Send Kite Man. Problem solved.- Yea that's it, the Phillies don't want to be associated with idiots. How does one even put that string of words together in their head? Let alone type it and hit submit. LOL— argo215
