Wal-Mart Moves to Trademark The Ten Commandments
BENTONVILLE, AK (The Disassociated Press) April 11, 2007 – Mega retailer Wal-Mart, which often finds itself at the center of controversial lawsuits and legal disputes, is once again headed back to court. In this case, however, it’s Wal-Mart in the role of the protagonist.
“One of our creative marketing personnel was recently out in Encino (a section of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley) and came across a Passover Haggadah (the booklet of traditional Passover prayers) in a Ralph’s grocery store, with the Ralph’s logo stamped on the cover and the back.
“It gave the impression that Ralph’s is the official corporate sponsor of Passover. We all had a look at it, and started kicking around the possibility of coming up with some branding ideas of our own,” explained corporate spokesperson Seth Gumbridge.
“One idea that we had was to make our own ‘Wal-Mart Good Friday Misalette’ but the problem with that is that the Good Friday Misalette is normally associated with church, whereas the Haggadah is used at home, during a meal – the perfect tie-in for a retail grocer.
“Then it occurred to us, ‘why not think big?’ - and we came up with the idea of trade marking The Ten Commandments, which is sacred to Jewish people, Christians, and Muslims as well – a huge target market for branding purposes. We thought ‘if Donald Trump can trademark ‘You’re Fired,’ and if those homeless people in Hollywood can trade mark ‘Spare Some Change?’ and ‘Clean Your Windows?’ (see Homeless 'Apprentices' Meet Mentor Trump, The Disassociated Press, January 22, 2007; Homeless Following Trump's Lead, The Disassociated Press, March 28, 2004), why shouldn’t we be able to trade mark ‘The Wal-Mart Ten Commandments?'”
When asked if it would be Wal-Mart’s intent to claim a royalty every time The Ten Commandments is referred to, if the trade mark is granted, Gumbridge replied, “nothing’s off the table, but, for P.R. purposes, it may end up just being enough if, when people think of The Ten Commandments, they think of Wal-Mart – and vice versa.”
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