SFist Tonight
Week Around the Ists
SFist Tonight
by Chris Jones
Did you know that the Bay Area is home to one of three museums dedicated to Pez, the candy treat that tastes so neat and teaches kids that popping "dolls" is good times? No? Well, it's totally true. The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia is located just ten minutes south of SFO, where for 14 years it has displayed an example of each of the more than 550 Pez dispensers ever created, including the world's largest dispenser of Pez, shaped like a cheerful snowman.
Well, now that you know if you're planning to visit this shrine to the ubiquitous late 20th century confection, you had better hurry. The Pez Candy Company out of Linz, Austria has slapped the museum with a fat law suit, demanding that the museum be shut down. They also want the owners to hand over all the museum's profits for the last 14 years and they want that happy snowman Pez dispenser melted down into a pool of plastic. Boo! One would think that a candy company based out of a country whose contributions to world culture have included old men who like to imprison their daughters in moldering basements and Hitler, would be a little more sensitive to how they're perceived on the global stage.
Alas, the Pez Candy Co. can't really control the vagaries of American trademark law, which demands obnoxious defense of one's trademarks, lest they lose them forever to the public domain. Buh bye, giant snowman Pez dispenser? We'll see how this plays out in court...
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Does Godwin's Law apply when discussing Austria?
I believe that is the Sound of Music Mandate
/off to edit the wiki page>
I believe that is the Sound of Music Mandate
You left out The Governator Ahhnuld. That was Austria's other contribution.
Well, that and naming their Archduke Franz Ferdinand who would get assassinated, driving the planet into World War One then go on to fame as a decent Scottish rock band.
Formerly decent. Their last album = meh, not so much.
Samurais are suing the Asian Art Museum and want all of their profits since June 18th!
the pez company and Austria can both suck it. I can fit all of Austria's positive contributions to the world in a thimble.
There's no way you could fit all those von Trapp children in a thimble.
not without an oven, no.
Note that there is no requirement to be dicks about defending one's trademark. Many trademark holders have offered zero cost licenses to fans over the years.
Sfist should have found a synonym for "museum" that started with a P.
Pez would be absolutely nothing and out of business without global aficionados and old school collectors who take it upon themselves to promote the "brand."
When is the last time Pez aired a commercial to pitch their product? When is the last time anyone here even saw a reference or an ad?
Yeah, didn't think so.
Gary Doss wouldn't hurt anyone. I've known him about 10 years having met om the set of "To Tell The Truth" at NBC in Burbank. I played one of the Impostors in the game and in my response to a panel question (as coached by Gary), I stated that the PEZ museum was NOT affiliated with the PEZ Candy Company and that's what went on the air. Gary's Museum reflects absolutely the iconoclastic and kitschy nature that made PEZ a Pop Art Monument.
To my knowledge he has never discussed in public the quality of the CANDY they manufacture and that is a great quality of mercy in and of itself. If PEZ had to sell the product based on that, they would have been out of business years ago. Why PEZ Incorporated chooses this particular time to sponsor a Pfefferminz "Book Burning" after so much publicity has re-generated public interest in the market even in the face of this rudimentary candy product with barely a palpable taste, is beyond me. To my knowledge PEZ Inc. has NEVER indulged in any sort of media publicity about their product and Gary Doss has practically GIVEN AWAY Millions of Dollars of PEZ advertising revenue.