October 21, 2009

U.S. Senator supports Rock Art in Monster Energy battle

(Burlington, VT) – Dan McLean of the Burlington Free Press reported this morning that Senator, Bernie Sanders, I-VT, has sent a letter to Hansen Beverage Company. The letter, of course, is about Hansen’s threat of legal action against Rock Art Brewery for use of the “Vermonster” name on bottled beer and the confusion it may cause with its own “Monster Energy” brand.

“I am not a trademark attorney, but I believe that any normal person would find your claim preposterous,” Sanders writes. “An energy drink is not a beer, and the word ‘monster’ is not ‘Vermonster.’ Any person who would get confused by these two different products and names should probably slow down a bit, and lay off energy drinks.”

You can see the full text of the letter on the Burlington Free Press website.

The cease and desist letter was the first of three questionable ones that came to light this month.

BevReview.com reported on a letter it received concerning a random forum review of Monster Energy Drink from 2007.

An actor from the 2006 film, The Shadow Walkers (rated 2.5 out of 10 on IMDB), also reported that a C&D letter was sent to him for a random candid shot of him holding up a can of Monster Energy Drink during shooting.

Are Hansen shareholders aware of what the company is spending on its legal team?

Meanwhile, the letters have generated a lot of buzz on social media networks within the last week with thousands of messages coming in supporting Rock Art and promoting a boycott of Monster Energy Drink. The buzz has slowed considerably though a few hundred tweets have still come across today.