Thursday, January 28, 2010
The NFL will kill your grassroots fandom
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Thu, Jan 28, 2010 at 7:03 PM
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Now that the Saints are in the Super Bowl, Who Dats everywhere have to get ready for a seismic shift in the national perception of their team. They are no longer burdened by being one of the few franchises to never make it to the big game and they no longer must think of themselves as perennial losers. Oh, and all that wacky, local fandom that, over the all the years of losing has created some of the most memorable and inspiring fan-created Saints iconography? Yea, the NFL wants that dead.
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WWL is reporting that the NFL has sent cease-and-desist orders to a slew of local merchants selling merchandise with the words "Who Dat" or a black and gold fleur de lis. Per the WWL article:
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“I really thought the 'Who Dat' was something that belonged to the people more than to the Saints or to the NFL or anything else,” said Storyville co-owner Josh Harvey.
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According to NFL spokesman Dan Masonson, "Any unauthorized use of the Saints colors and other [marks] designed to create the illusion of an affiliation with the Saints is equally a violation of the Saints trademark rights because it allows a third party to 'free ride' by profiting from confusion of the team's fans, who want to show support for the Saints."
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Loyola Law School intellectual property professor Ray Arieaux said the ownership of 'Who Dat' may be a gray area.
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“Is there some unfair trade taking place because maybe the public does associate that with the Saints? The question is what does the public associate with 'Who Dat,'" Arieaux asked.
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And the NFL isn't the only company claiming ownership of the phrase.
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Yes it seems that the NFL is quick to jump into the fray when there's Super Bowl-type money to be made, claiming ownership of a phrase that most likely originated on the radio. After all, how else would you explain the NFL waiting until this post-season to start cracking down? Either the NFL doesn't watch its own games (unlikely) or didn't care about local merchants profiting off of Who Dat merchandise because the Saints were never that good to begin with (most likely).
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This also speaks to a much bigger issue that Who Dats everywhere should start to take into account. As beloved as the Saints are, and as wholesome and pure people would like to believe their connection to the town is, the team and the NFL are corporate entities in the business of making a profit.
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"But the Saints are different! They're the new America's team!" some might say. True, the connection that the Saints have with this city is unique, but that has more to do with the whims of mother nature and the teams' heartfelt response to relief efforts. And yes, the Saints and Carnival may be balancing the City budget, but that doesn't make this situation any different than any of the hard-luck teams that came before and the profit they generated (for themselves) after historic wins.
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And if you're still holding out judgment on this and think that the NFL will look past their greedy corporatims for the sake of the fans, realize that their is a precedent for such actions. Just look at the Boston Red Sox and how they treated their long-suffering fan base after winning their first World Series in almost 100 years. Touching, really.
Speaking of...
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On New Orleans, the Super Bowl, the Mannings and Drew Brees
With Eli Manning in his second Super Bowl, quarterbacks from or playing for New Orleans have made quite a mark on the NFL
- Feb 2, 2012
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What it's like inside a Monster Truck (Hint: extremely loud).
We got to ride in the Hot Wheels Monster Truck this morning.
- Jan 27, 2012
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In case you haven't heard, Monsterjam is coming to the Superdome
The Superdome will be transformed into playpen for monster trucks this Saturday
- Jan 25, 2012
- More »
Comments (4)
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A search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark database reveals 15 applications for word/trade mark registration containing "Who Dat;" none of which appear to be filed by the Saints or the NFL. Is someone bluffing????? They only have two registered trade marks for the fleur de lis that they can claim. Those marks are very specific and distinctive. They are: --Their SPECIFIC fdl in black and old gold on the Sir Saint shield --Their SPECIFIC fdl in black and old gold on the football helmet http://www.neworleans.com/blogs/whodat-say-you-gotta-cease-and-desist.html Who'dats are getting it from all sides now, as we saw Gambit's tweet about Paul "Don't Call Me" Shirley and would like to sick the who'dats on this copycat spin-off, it gets worse: Dear New Orleans, First of all, kudos on developing the poorest city in the United States. Your commitment to broken levees, rapey domed stadia, and white flight should be applauded. As we prepare to pick your team in this difficult time, a polite request: If it’s possible, could you not rebuild your home city in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? Could you instead build yourselves space-age hovels that are resistant to both floods and earthquakes? And could those space-age hovels have marble countertops and multiple flat-panel TV screens, like the kind I saw at Jimmy Kimmel’s house when Simmons brought me over once? And could you have cars, like NORMAL people, instead of traveling around on your filthy, calloused feet? And could you, despite being born into poverty, pull yourself up by your bootstraps to become the 12th man on an NBA bench and then a novelty writer to likes his flaunt his affinity for the Silversun Pickups, as I have? http://www.dabears.com/forums/general-nfl-banter/29516-sb-analyst-paul-shirley.html Grrrrr Who'dat? Geaux Saints!
The guys who produced the original WhoDat song from the 80s have issued a statement: http://www.neworleans.com/blogs/statement-from-whodat-inc-january-28-2010.html There are a bunch of groups popping up on Facebook too... people are PISSED at the NFL for this. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=273517002549
Dear NFL, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. We are the Who Dat Nation. You may not have gotten a chance to know us over the years, since after all our football team hasn’t been known for excellence on the field, but rest assured, we have been around for a long, long time. Before American football even existed, the phrase “Who Dat” was a part of our city’s Brooklyn-sounding vernacular. We played “The Saints Go Marching In” through the Jazz Age. Always was our emblem the fleur-de-lis of old King Clovis of the Franks. For centuries we’ve waved those gold lily-flowers on our shotgun house porches. Forty-three years ago our businessmen understood to build our football team around our culture. Naturally, we rallied around the Saints, who symbolized who we are. We danced and wrote songs, and even decorated our brown bags in the fine traditions of New Orleans art. We were devastated by the flood four years ago, but we are a strong people. Again, the Saints reflect who we are, as they have surged to the Super Bowl just as we as a city picked ourselves up to the sound of a proud trumpet. We are proud of who we are. We’re not exactly like the other cities you’re used to, so we might be tough to understand. We are a rich, old local culture, and genuinely we love our football team, whom we have been able to bring into our cultural gumbo. We hope you can understand. It’s important that we can get along. Now WHO DAT say dey gonna beat dem Saints?!!
