Note to publishers: don’t piss off Hershey. Because you do something they don’t like, they get rather annoyed:
The distinctive chocolate bar on the dust jacket of a new book about the founder of Hershey violates its trademark, the candymaker said in a federal lawsuit.
The company wants an injunction to prevent publisher Simon & Schuster from using Hershey-owned images to market Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire and Utopian Dreams, which is coming out next month.
Hershey spokeswoman Stephanie Moritz said the company is concerned that consumers may think it “authorized, sponsored or approved” the book.
“Hershey does not object to the content of defendant’s book, or to the mere use of the word ‘Hershey’ in the title of the book,” according to the lawsuit that was made public Monday. “However, defendant has designed and adopted a dust jacket for the book which extensively uses Hershey’s well-known marks and trade dress beyond any manner permissible under law.”
Yeah, I guess when you have a dust jacket that flaunts that big ole “registered trademark” sign right there for everyone to see, the company might not be so happy…
The irony? D’Antonio’s book is actually getting some pretty good reviews, like Publishers Weekly saying “this volume will satisfy all but the most voracious readers,” while Booklist proclaims the book “A glowing tribute to the man and his benevolence.”
And as for the subject header reference, compare and contrast….
