Trademarking a Toucan?

Sociological images for the pics

Kellogg’s is suing the Maya Archaeology Institute (MAI), a non-profit Guatemalan organization aimed at protecting the local history, culture, and natural environment. Why? It uses a toucan in its logo.

For those of you who did not spend your youth eating highly sugared empty carbohydrates for breakfast, the toucan (specifically, Toucan Sam) is the mascot of Kellogg’s Froot Loops. The toucan is also a large-billed colorful bird indigenous to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and southern Florida.

via Capitalism, Animals, and the Ownership of Icons » Sociological Images.

That is so grimy.  The fight to own/control images, food, genetics, songs, language, and other shit people shouldn’t own is the showdown of this century.  Of course large corporations already have a leg up, by having purchased things like the rights to images of freaking toucans!

Thanks Margo DeMello for bringing this to my attention and sociological images for juxtaposing these two logos.