Juan Valdez is back in the spotlight again, only a few weeks after announcing the the Colombian Coffee Federation would attempt to buy Starbucks. This time the news is even weirder, as the organization announces a lawsuit against a cartoon called Mother Goose and Grimm for a satirical strip that plays on an old Juan Valdez marketing slogan, “…there’s a little Juan Valdez in every cup.”
See the cartoon here.
The cartoon’s text reads: “Y’know, there’s a big crime syndicate in Colombia. So when they say there’s a little bit of Juan Valdez in every can, maybe they’re not kidding.”
Apparently the Colombian Coffee Federation believes that joke hits a little too close to home and is pursuing a $20 million claim for damages. {ursuing such a claim is a bad public relations move by the organization that has until this time has enjoyed tremendous positive press in the USA. By interpreting the lampoon as a damaging assault on its credibility, the Federation is doing far more harm than the cartoon itself… in essence saying “yes, this could be true.”
It’s an old joke and not really that funny anyway. Nobody would care if you hadn’t made such a big deal about it and now you’re suing the American press. Have you gone completely insane?