Devo v. McDonalds
Written by admin on June 26, 2008
Devo is suing McDonalds fast food chain over their “American Idol Happy Meal” character “New Wave Nigel,” which the band claims is a blatant rip-off of their look and style. This came out in a recent story from the Australian Associated Press.
A while back, we posted a story on how McDonald’s new Happy Meal toy “New Wave Nigel” looked like a cheap imitation of members of the band.
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While the chain might have considered the character a composite of the new wave style like others in the series were for different genres, company suits failed to check on whether the Devo Energy Dome hat and suit were copyrighted (according to bassist Gerald Casale, the energy dome is). This week, the band’s members revealed it is suing the fast-food chain over the little prize.
In the Australian AP report, Casale had this to say about “Nigel” (thanks to stuff.com.nz):
“They didn’t ask us anything. Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s, and we don’t like American Idol, so we’re doubly offended.”
As the case heads to court, Devo are still busy touring this summer. They play in Brooklyn tonight as part of the American leg, then on to Australia and Japan.
