Guest blog written by Theodore Hahn
After much hullabaloo, Best Buy is wiping egg off its face, and Scott Beale and his crew are breathing a sigh of relief.
On November 6th, Beale (founder of San Francisco film and video production company Laughing Squid) posted an image of a promotional t-shirt for the NYC prank choreographers Improv Everywhere, and wrote about how the logo, an obvious parody of the Best Buy insignia, caught the attention of the electronic retailer’s legal department, and, unsurprisingly, garnered the troupe a cease and desist letter.
The strange thing is: Beale also received a C&D letter, claiming that simply covering the legal dustup was a violation of Best Buy’s trademark.
Thing is: Laughing Squid’s blog is one of the more popular culture blogs on the Web, and very quickly, the frivolous nature of the letter was covered not only by many, many other blogs, but also national media outlets like BoingBoing, Fast Company, and, yes, the New York Times.
Within a DAY, Best Buy had reversed itself and sent a letter of apology to Beale and Co.
Anyone doubting the power of social media to get things done and stories moving only need to look at Laughing Squid – and one particular Best Buy lawyer who is, I expect, looking for a new job.