ThinkGeek in Trouble for Selling Unicorn Meat

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ThinkGeek in Trouble for Selling Unicorn Meat
June 23, 2010 - By Jane McEntegart - Source : Tom's Guide US

" Every year on April Fools' Day ThinkGeek adds a few products to its homepage that are both completely fake and gloriously unrealistic, like a Betamax to HD-DVD converter or a USB stick home pregnancy test.

For April Fool's Day 2010, the site advertised canned unicorn meat. Unfortunately, Think Geek's fake product included a tagline that was quite similar to one already trademarked by The National Pork Board and the NPB wasn't exactly happy. This past week they got around to sending Think Geek a cease and desist order, claiming their describing unicorn meant as, "The new white meat," was too close to NPB's own tagline labeling pork, "The other white meat."

NPB went through the trouble of getting a legal team to look into things and according to Think Geek, the cease and desist letter included a well-researched 12-page report on the matter. Okay, so it was well researched except for the part where they didn't realize it wasn't even a real product.

Think Geek says it's the best cease and desist letter they've ever gotten and apologized to the National Pork Board for both the misunderstanding and "for their awkward extended pause on the phone after we had explained our unicorn meat doesn't actually exist." To show they're sincere, they're extending a special discount to everyone offended by the portrayal of unicorn meat as "the new white meat." For a limited time, visitors to ThinkGeek.com can take $10 off any order of $40 or more by using the code PORKBOARD at checkout.

Full Think Geek release below. Check out the TG blog for more about the cease and desist.

Geeknet Apologizes to National Pork Board for Unicorn Meat Confusion 'New white meat' from sparkly unicorns not meant to replace pork-based diets

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, June 21, 2010, Geeknet, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNUX), the online network for the global geek community, announces its public apology to the National Pork Board for unintended confusion surrounding unicorn meat versus pork. Recently, the National Pork Board issued a "cease and desist" warning to ThinkGeek, a Geeknet company and the premier retailer for the global geek community, regarding its April 1 product launch of canned unicorn meat, which can be seen at http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/.

"It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn," said Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet.

"In fact, ThinkGeek's canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red, and not approved by any government entity."

"Ironically, other than the Pork Board, we do more than anybody else to promote pig consumption among geeks," Kauffman said.

Constantly working to encourage a "passion for pork", ThinkGeek offers more than 15 different pork-inspired products including: Bacon Soap, Bacon Lip Balm, Bacon Mints, MMMMVelopes (bacon-flavored envelopes) and BaconPop Flavored Popcorn.

To make good on its apology to the Pork Board, ThinkGeek is extending a special discount to everyone offended by the portrayal of Unicorn Meat as "the new white meat." For a limited time, visitors to ThinkGeek.com can take $10 off any order of $40 or more by using the code PORKBOARD at checkout. The discount applies to merchandise totals and excludes shipping charges. The coupon is good until 6/30/2010 at 11:59PM ET.

Canned unicorn meat and products from other mythical, virtual and fictional characters, as well as tangible products, can be found at thinkgeek.com.

ABOUT THINKGEEK ThinkGeek is the premier retailer for the global geek community. A wholly owned subsidiary of Geeknet, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNUX), ThinkGeek was founded in 1999 to serve the distinct needs and interests of technology professionals and enthusiasts. Today, ThinkGeek has grown to become the first choice for innovative and imaginative gifts that appeal to the geek in everyone.

For more information, please visit thinkgeek.com or call 1-888-GEEKSTUFF.

ABOUT GEEKNET Geeknet is the online network for the global geek community. Our sites include SourceForge, Slashdot, ThinkGeek, Geek.com, Ohloh and freshmeat. We serve an audience of nearly 44 million users* each month and provide the tech-obsessed with content, culture, connections, commerce, and all the things that geeks crave. Want to learn more? Check out geek.net. (*May 2010 Unique Visitors 43.5M. Source: Google Analytics and Omniture) Geeknet, SourceForge, Slashdot, ThinkGeek, Ohloh and freshmeat are trademarks of Geeknet, Inc. All other trademarks or product names are the property of their respective owners.

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:source: Source: http://www.tomsguide.com/us/think-ge...news-7174.html

lol, that's awesome. how do the ppl @ NPB even have jobs? as long as u passed 2nd grade ur hired!

NPB legal team on loan from MPAA/RIAA?? :unsure:

hhaha great one

nice.....