Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny is suing a South Florida artisanal beer company, Unbranded Brewing Company, for illegally using his name, image, and likeness to market one of its brews, San Benito. Bad Bunny claims this is a play on his real name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, under which he goes by as a producer. As Bad Bunny already has a beer endorsement deal with Corona Extra, this new beer can confuse his fan base into thinking he has a relationship with the company.
Unbranded Brewing’s founder Zachary Swanson has reportedly stated,
“So basically we have a character that looks similar to him,” said Swanson in an interview. “We’ve agreed to stop using the iconography or imagery that looks anything like Bad Bunny.”
The brewery “never sought or obtained permission to utilize Ocasio’s name, trademark or image for any purpose,” the suit states, adding, “Moreover, [the company] never responded to [Ocasio’s] cease and desist letter.”
Swanson claims that Bad Bunny has not trademarked his name associated with alcoholic beverages and will therefore not stop selling the line. Further, the term San Benito also refers to St. Benedict and the beer brewing tradition of the Benedictine monks.
– Excerpt from an article for The Orlando Sentinal by Ron Hurtibise. Read the full article here.
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