Everlasting Godstoppers June 22, 2010

Everlasting Godstoppers

By Guest Contributor
June 22, 2010

It’s not the first time I’ve heard this phrase, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen this terrific image 🙂

(*Applause* for the double entendre?)

The design was created by Bruce Harris and you can now buy a shirt with the logo at Zazzle.

All net proceeds from the shirt will be donated to the Triangle Atheist, Agnostic, Freethinker, and Humanist Meetup Group in North Carolina — a fantastic group for anyone in the area.

(Thanks to Todd for the link!)

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  • beckster

    Well done Bruce! Making all of us triangle atheists proud!

  • Parse

    I dunno, it didn’t stop Ted Haggard.

    (At least the idea made me laugh.)

  • Kyle

    I NEED THIS SHIRT!

    My Tootsie Pop “How many licks does it take?” shirt with that double entendre isn’t doing much for me anymore.

  • Hey, I saw this at our meetup this past weekend! And then I questioned whether it was trademark infringement or dilution by blurring or tarnishment. This is the problem with being a law student. Everything looks like a legal problem.

  • Chris

    You know, I call out Christians all the time for wearing these sorts of shirts (“Tommy Hellfighter”, The Sprite ripoff “Holy Spirit”, &c) and now you do it.

    To be fair, I must now call you out: Really, THIS is going to save people from religion? It’s not creative and it’s not funny, and it’s quite possibly illegal.

  • Todd Stiefel

    I am no lawyer, so don’t know if there is a legal issue or not, but I do know that parodies are given tons of leeway, so I would guess that it is not a concern.

    Good job Bruce!

  • Bruce Harris

    Wow, thanks for all of the compliments everyone! I had a blast making this thing. The concept came from group input at the Meetup forum and I just couldn’t resist making it real.

    Parse, I’ll wager Haggard wasn’t doing both at the same time, but hey, it was his money!

    Chris, I’m not offended when the religious make fun of atheists or sport their knock-off “Got Jesus?” bumper stickers. If all conflicts could be waged over witty slogans, rather than war, the world would be a better place.

  • Well said, Bruce. And great job on the idea and design!

  • Nate

    I used to work for a company that made most of their money prosecuting merchandise like this. Parody is fine and well-protected, but once you start selling it on merchandise is usually where they say it crosses the line into dilution. I’m no lawyer, but I remember being told that just having a parody image alone isn’t enough to prosecute (or C&D), but selling it on a T-shirt is.

    Doesn’t mean you can’t get away with it, but don’t be too shocked if eventually you get a C&D from Nestle.

    Something similar happened with Hershey and the webcomic Goats: http://www.goats.com/forums/news/33/

  • Greg

    Michael and Chris,
    Wheres your sense of humor?
    Dont be such tight asses, its just a shirt. 🙂

  • Don’t get me wrong, I find it funny. I just don’t want the creator of the excellent design to get sued. That would be bad for business.

  • Chris brought up 4 points:
    1) “Really, THIS is going to save people from religion?”
    2) “It’s not creative…”
    3) “…and it’s not funny,”
    4) “and it’s quite possibly illegal.”
    —–
    My thoughts on each:
    1) Laughing at religion is actually quite effective at dissuasion, in my experience, usually more so than debate.
    2) Very little in our world is PURELY creative. Parody definitely involves a degree of creativity, including this example.
    3) Humor is in the mind of the beholder. I chuckled.
    4) The sale of merchandise probably is, but the concept/parody is not.

  • Margie

    The “Mutant of Omaha” case comes to mind. I found this link with some good explanations and range of court decisions regarding trademark infringement and parody.

    http://www.lfiplaw.com/articles/trademark_parody.htm

  • *chuckles*

    This is funny.

  • Proud Kuffar

    There is no god. Get a life!
    The image is cool. Watch out for predatory
    lawyers.

  • Loren Petrich

    I know someone who had used EverLastingGodStopper as her username in IIDB, now FRDB. She called herself that because atheist/secularist activism had given her a sense of purpose.

    She got purged from IIDB in 2007, something which provoked some major drama llama.

    She’s “Stopper” for short, but she’s gone through lots of usernames in various places.