Selling a dozen or two t-shirts and onesies with that slogan was enough to get Alaska artist Barbara Holmes a cease and desist letter from the milk marketing people (the supermarket cow kind of milk). Holmes explains that the commodities underlying the two slogans are unlikely to be confused with each other in the marketplace: “They’re two different kind of jugs.” (Elefant, Legal Blog Watch, Jul. 25; Roger Shuy, Language Log, Jul. 28). More: David Giacalone, who also has some very kind words for us toward the end.
3 Comments
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I though this kind of thing was already taken care of. I distinctly remember hearing about a case where a judge already ruled that breastmilk won’t be confused with cow’s milk. I believe there was also a case where “milk” was determined to be a common word, therefore the dairy association couldn’t sue the makers of Silk.
I need a visual comparison of the two ads to make a determination.
Hello, Lee. Sorry I’m late seeing your Comment. If you click my link above, you’ll find an images of each of the two phrases.