Intellectual Property Law

McCain Potatoes

By Mike Madison

Take a look at this screenshot from the Campaign HQ for McCain Potatoes:

Political parody?  No — it’s a real promotional campaign for the french fries and other potato products offered by a real company called McCain, which is trying to capitalize on an unbelievably opportune moment in the company’s history.  But the company doing so in a way that treads pretty close to the line of acceptable use of another person’s likeness, and perhaps crosses it.  Take a look at the video footage available at the site, which includes extensive footage of a faux (John McCain), weird smile and all, distributing the company’s distinctive blue packages at “campaign” appearances.  I looked for the video at YouTube, but it’s already been taken down.

Years ago, Ralph Nader narrowly escaped the trademark clutches of MasterCard when he ran a campaign commercial that parodied its “For Everything Else . . .” campaign.  Is McCain Foods on the safe side of the opposite risk — that John McCain the candidate might raise a false endorsement claim?  I’ll be honest:  When I first looked at the site and watched the video, I was confused, at least for a few moments.  But a Republican candidate for national office might be well-advised to steer clear of the potato(e) patch.

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Full post as published by Madisonian.net on September 24, 2008 (boomark / email).