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[queerbychoice]

Apparently McDonalds has trademarked the phrase "I am Asian". If you imagine yourself to be Asian but are not a McDonalds shareholder, I guess you will need to choose a new race.

So far I have not located verification of this trademark on any official McDonalds websites. Can anyone locate some? The list of trademarks on the McDonalds website does not include it, but it's possible they removed it from the list or haven't added it yet. Snopes.com doesn't mention this one way or the other. BoingBoing.net is a fairly widely respected blog, but it's still only a blog.

Comments

[piman.livejournal.com]

TESS (http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=n7m1r5.1.1) says they haven't.

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Wow, but that says they've trademarked the phrased "Thanks Dad" instead, which is quite as ridiculous.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

Also, maybe I'm wrong due to my non-Asian-ness, but does anyone else just find that web site sort of creepy and offensive?

Whether we're sipping green tea or enjoying a Big Mac® sandwich, we're helping make the magic mix called America become even richer. And McDonald's is right there with us, everyday!

Um....

"I believe my Asian background has helped me to be detail-oriented, given me the attitude to be of service to customers and, most importantly, to succeed at whatever I do."

UM....

Fact. The sun never sets on The Golden Arches.

UM!

[donutgirl.livejournal.com]

I was offended. I think they should have gone all out and named the site: "I'm roving it."

[mariness.livejournal.com]

I went and checked the website, and while I can't believe that I'm defending McDonald's here, a couple of notes:

They haven't copyrighted the phrase "I am Asian." They have copyrighted all of the written material on their website, which is called I am Asian, which is a) a pretty pathetic name for a website and b) extremely tacky, but I suppose could be looked at (if you were being very very generous) as a new way to reach out to new customers and raise their cholesterol.

(There. I knew it wouldn't take me long to get back into I hate McDonalds phase! Join me!)

What's also very unclear -- exactly what McDonald's is responsible for this site. The U.S. McDonald's licenses the McDonald's name overseas and domestically. In some cases, they do maintain direct or major ownership of the McDonald's property, as they do with about 25% of the McDonald's in the U.S. In other cases, local rules do not allow U.S. corporations to own the majority of a franchise operation -- even if the franchise is clearly an American product, like, say Baskin-Robbins or whatever. This is particularly true in Japan, which does allow foreign investment and also encourages Japanese businesses to purchase franchise licenses from U.S. corporations -- but does not allow the U.S. corporation to wholly own the property. When I worked for Kaplan Educational Centers in Japan -- a "U.S. corporation" -- the center there was actually owned by Tosoh, which was in turn owned by Suntory; Tosoh paid the Washington Post a certain amount per year for the use of the Kaplan name and products and agreed to stay more or less with Kaplan's rules, but it was an independently managed corporation.

It is extremely possible that this I-Am-Asian page has been set up by one of these corporations -- or, for that matter, by a U.S. franchisee. Admittedly, it's also highly unlikely that this page was set up without somebody from Oakwood, IL (the U.S. headquarters) approving it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it came directly from them, either.

[piman.livejournal.com]

Well, you can't copyright a phrase, you have to trademark it.

I suspect that if some other competing food corporation starts using "I Am Asian", they will trademark it, or if they try to expand the use of the mark.

[mariness.livejournal.com]

Unless they manage to realize that this is a very poor way to sell hamburgers.

(Of course, I could be reacting to the general blahness and annoyingness of the webpage -- it's possible that the original marketing concept wasn't that bad. But it certainly hasn't been portrayed well.)

[rekraft.livejournal.com]

If you imagine yourself to be Asian ...

I like the way you put that. First thing I thought was, it sure doesn't seem like anyone in the larger, more general region of Asia has heard anything about it - not realising it was aimed at Asian Pacific Americans. And that's some rather dodgy copy on the front page if I may say so. Didn't really peruse it further, but it already sounds so off-colour -

Hello

[vi-kka.livejournal.com]

Can I add you to my livejournal? Please :D

Re: Hello

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Sure, feel free. Out of curiosity, how did you find my journal? And oh, you write in Spanish! You might also be interested in the journals of chisparoja, quamono and brighton74.

Re: Hello

[vi-kka.livejournal.com]

I found your journal just browsing in livejournal in that times I haven't my own livejournal(and sometimes and I don't understand completely what you write, my english is not so perfect, I think is a bit far from it), and I saw the livejournal of chisparoja and brighton, also; oh, chisparoja is so sweet ! :D Thanks for adding me!

Re: Hello

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Yes, Chisparoja is indeed sweet. I wish my Spanish skills hadn't faded so much since high school; your English seems considerably better than my Spanish is these days. (I tried to write this comment in Spanish but I can't even remember the subjunctive verb endings anymore. Ack! And I usually need to consult Babelfish to really figure out what Chisparoja and Brighton and Quamono are saying.)

Re: Hello

[vi-kka.livejournal.com]

Thanks for answering me, and ... I think you are more nice than I thought before :))

[bypolonius.livejournal.com]

you made a who would jesus do icon!! and thanks for the happy birthday.
you're the lj kind patrol, I guess.

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Yes, your use of the phrase inspired me to want to illustrate it, and then when I finished, I decided to dedicate it to you. Feel free to use it if you want.