FayesVision/WENN.com
In the “You Can’t Make This Up” department, apparently Exxon is suing FX for its new channel, FXX, for its logo, claiming theft, They don’t like the fact that the two X’s are interlocking like in the gasoline company’s own signage. It is possible that it can be confusing: I almost made the mistake of plugging my cable box into my car to get gas from FXX while watching The League, but I caught myself, phew.
FXX immediately scoffed at the suit, while managing to simultaneously work in promos for its shows in the press release response. That’s deft PR work, indeed.
The closest thing to this that I can think of is that whole World Wildlife Fund/Wold Wrestling Federation imbroglio. Apparently the World Wildlife people finally became cognizant of the fact of the wrestlers using the initials WWF. It only took them over 30 years to do so. Despite the sheer ridiculousness of it, Vince McMahon and the wrestlers changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment. I hope those panda bears are happy.
Should FXX change its logo? As a layperson who has next to no idea of intellectual property law, I don’t think so – there is no way that I would think that the two companies were affiliated. Then again, I’m also no stranger to how absurd the law can be in terms of a lack of reason or logic. It’s just a matter of following the news, where I see a daily dose of insanity. So yes, there just might be a change forced.
John Landgraf, FX’s president, has enough to worry about with the decision to split the channel into two more entities and air popular shows like The League and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He shouldn’t lose sleep over this frivolous lawsuit. If they lose it, though, the graphic designer behind it might need to look for new work.
