Save the Hobbit
- Thread starter Candlelight
- Start date
Hopefully it'll be all legally done and dusted in the next few days. The 'Save The Hobbit' page on Facebook has over 50,000 'likes now. I'm heading up there tonight, should be a good crowd considering all the publicity this week.
Genius
The Hobbit was my local too a few years back... moved about 35miles north though so haven't had cause to go back. If I wasn't laid up in bed I'd be down there this weekend myself :/
So many opportunities staring them in the face. They could go all out with this with the forced renaming.
The Lobbit : Dedicated to throwing heavy items (or lobbing) them
The Snobbit : Very snooty high class fans of LOTR have a place to assemble.
The Bobbitt : It's the cut off your boyfriend's penis diner! You can have hot dogs with the tip cut off.
The Robbit : Kind of a beacon for thieves, but a gimmick nonetheless
The Gobble-Knobbit : Probably adults only.
The Jobbit : It's half diner / half job posting kiosk!
The Corn-on-the-Cobbit : You get the idea.
The Mobbit : Huge swarms of people! Can you even get a table?
The Lobbit : Dedicated to throwing heavy items (or lobbing) them
The Snobbit : Very snooty high class fans of LOTR have a place to assemble.
The Bobbitt : It's the cut off your boyfriend's penis diner! You can have hot dogs with the tip cut off.
The Robbit : Kind of a beacon for thieves, but a gimmick nonetheless
The Gobble-Knobbit : Probably adults only.
The Jobbit : It's half diner / half job posting kiosk!
The Corn-on-the-Cobbit : You get the idea.
The Mobbit : Huge swarms of people! Can you even get a table?
Maybe because nobody associated with LOTR ever bothered to trademark that name in the first place, or wasn't able to, as the name might not have been an original creation of Tolkien, who used plenty of pre-existing ancient names in the creation of Middle Earth. (I'm pretty sure that Mithril is a product of Norse mythology, and that the word has been in the public domain since well before the very concept of "public Domain" ever existed.)
They've probably gotten a lot more than a $100 worth of publicity out of this whole mess at this point.
Isn't there something in law like that trademarks have to be enforced, or else they might lapse? In that case, they might have no choice but to pursue it, in order to protect against more egregious violations.
If it were me, I just would have asked them to display the Trademark or Copyright notice rather than threaten a lawsuit or demand they rebrand. The pub is no threat to them-- it's free advertising and represents cultural goodwill.
Apparently Ian Mckellen is going to pop down in July 
That's what I've been wondering myself, because this whole mess seemed to rife with nothing but PR pitfalls for SZC.
Which is ironic, because Ian McKellen usually has no problem letting sperm pass.
Bazinga!
