For April Fool's Day 2010, the site advertised canned unicorn meat. Unfortunately, Think Geek's fake product included a tagline that was quite similar to one already trademarked by The National Pork Board and the NPB wasn't exactly happy. This past week they got around to sending Think Geek a cease and desist order, claiming their describing unicorn meant as, "The new white meat," was too close to NPB's own tagline labeling pork, "The other white meat."
NPB went through the trouble of getting a legal team to look into things and according to Think Geek, the cease and desist letter included a well-researched 12-page report on the matter. Okay, so it was well researched except for the part where they didn't realize it wasn't even a real product.
Think Geek says it's the best cease and desist letter they've ever gotten and apologized to the National Pork Board for both the misunderstanding and "for their awkward extended pause on the phone after we had explained our unicorn meat doesn't actually exist." To show they're sincere, they're extending a special discount to everyone offended by the portrayal of unicorn meat as "the new white meat." For a limited time, visitors to ThinkGeek.com can take $10 off any order of $40 or more by using the code PORKBOARD at checkout.
Full Think Geek release below. Check out the TG blog for more about the cease and desist.
Geeknet Apologizes to National Pork Board for Unicorn Meat Confusion 'New white meat' from sparkly unicorns not meant to replace pork-based diets
