I'm Being Told It's For Sale

I'm always hesitant to jump on the bandwagon for causes.

Once you do, you're lumped in with whoever else is on board, and as we all know, the world is full of idiots, which means that there's a good chance people will think that I'm an idiot, a notion I fight long and hard every day to disprove.

But I watched a video today, and it got me thinking, and by the end, I was convinced.

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Anybody who knows me knows I went through an intense energy drink phase. I liked 'em cold, I liked 'em big, and I liked 'em often. Fruit juice added, extra vitamins added, artificial coloring--it didn't matter. My pee stank, I got the shakes, and I was awake for a longer portion of the day.

What could be bad?

Costco carried two types--Red Bull and Monster. Red Bull was more expensive and contained less, um, energy than Monster, so Monster it was.

And I was faithful to Monster until I finally realized that sucking down 54 grams of sugar per sitting probably wasn't the best idea.

Now, I've relaxed--literally and figuratively. I'll get a sugar-free Red Bull from time-to-time, but otherwise, I'm sticking to coffee.

So what does this have to do with Rock Art Brewery?

It has to do with a letter, a Cease and Desist order, actually, that Rock Art Brewery's founder, Matt Nadeau, received from Monster's lawyers.

Monster wanted Rock Art Brewery to stop selling one of it's beers--The Vermonster--because people "would be confused with the two products."

Nadeau sent back a response saying he understood the issue and would give up the rights to "The Vermonster" in the energy drink category--certainly a fair agreement--since he didn't operate in the energy drink world, nor Monster in the alcoholic beverage world.

But then, Monster said, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Nadeau was told:

The energy drink category was never the concern to my client; it is that my client would now like to enter the alcoholic beverage market.

And so the battle began.

Nadeau has been told by numerous trademark lawyers that Monster doesn't have a case here, that it is clearly a "nuisance lawsuit."

But they advised that he give up and just change the name, because in the end, Rock Art Brewery would lose.

Monster has the ability (read: money) to drag the case out in court for so long that Rock Art Brewery will have to tap out eventually. We're talking about a company with nine employees--and that's counting the founder and his wife.

So as far as I can tell, there's three options: give money to Rock Art Brewery, or don't give money to Monster, or both, which is my plan.

And while you're at it, watch this video put together by Nadeau:



My favorite quote:

We're going to continue this for as long as we can. I'm a man of principles and its principles at stake, its liberty at stake, its justice that's at stake, and I'm being told it's for sale. I don't buy it.

I couldn't agree more.

Anybody--and I don't care if you're a liberal or a conservative or a Democrat or a Republican--should be mad as hell about this.

It's time to take a stand.

Time to jump on a bandwagon.

For once, I'm taking the bait.

(Just one thing--if you're an idiot, please, don't jump with me.)

(Thanks.)


More soon.

JS