Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate in the NY-23 special election, has now been told by the California Milk Processor Board to pull one of his ads for infringing on their “got milk?” trademark — but he’s sticking with it.
The Owens ad says he’ll fight on behalf of local dairy farmers to stop alleged price-fixing by milk companies, and ends with him saying, “We’ve got to find out — who’s got milk money?” The phrase “got milk money?” is then on screen, in a similar font as the “got milk?” ads.
“He has not sought our permission to use it,” said California Milk Processor Board Executive Director Stephen James. “He does not have our permission to use it and if we don’t police the trademark and make sure that it’s not abused by anyone who just feels like slapping it on what they want to slap it on, then we lose the rights to the trademark.”
Owens is standing by his ad: “The use of “Got Milk Money” is a parody, not a misuse of the slogan. Dairy farmers in Upstate New York aren’t getting a fair price for their milk while consumers are paying more at the grocery store. In Congress I intend to do something about it.”
The campaign of Dede Scozzafava, the Republican campaign in this three-way race, put out a statement gloating at Owens: “The real parody here is Bill Owens, a $750,000 a year lawyer who drives a $90,000 Mercedes, acting as if he ever visited a dairy farm before this campaign. Between Bill the wannabe farmer who rips off others’ slogans and Bill the wannabe businessman who is shamelessly claiming credit for jobs he didn’t create, someone needs to get a shovel. It’s getting deep around the Owens campaign.”
