A friend of mine is taking on Wal-Mart - holy crap!!!! [View All]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walmart7mar07,1,5484361.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true

Wal-Mart Parodist Sues to Sell Products
The creator of slogans bashing the retailer says it's a free-speech issue. The company calls it a trademark violation.
By Abigail Goldman, Times Staff Writer
March 7, 2006


Computer store owner Charles Smith is the first to admit the T-shirts and mugs he designed to lampoon Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are in bad taste.

But Smith had wanted to make a point by comparing the giant retail company to the Nazis. So he created slogans playing off the Bentonville, Ark., firm's familiar logo, including "I {heart} WAL*OCAUST. They have family values and their alcohol, tobacco and firearms are 20% off."

Wal-Mart wasn't amused. The company launched a legal battle by writing a cease-and-desist demand that led Smith to file suit Monday in federal court in Atlanta — with the help of Ralph Nader's legal aid group, Public Citizen — for the right to continue selling the products.

At stake, Smith said, is his right to publicly criticize the world's largest retailer — or any other company.


On edit: Charlie is a great guy! I hope he wins!!!