Cheesehead Billboard

UPDATE: Cheesehead sliced from anti-cheese billboard

A controversial anti-cheese billboard went up Tuesday near Green Bay, but the Cheesehead hat was missing.

The group that paid $3,500 to install the sign along Highway 41 had planned on a scythe-wielding grim reaper to wear a Cheesehead in the ad that reads, "Warning: Cheese Can Sack Your Health. Fat. Cholesterol. Sodium."

But after the St. Francis company that makes the ubiquitous Cheesehead apparel, Foamation Inc., threatened a lawsuit, the golden triangular topper was blacked out and the grim reaper now appears hatless on the billboard.

"We're just happy because we didn't want the Cheesehead portrayed in a negative image, being Wisconsin is the dairy state," said Denise Kaminski, office manager at Foamation.

..."We were prepared to litigate the issue, that we had a right under the First Amendment to put out this public health message," said Dan Kinburn, the group's attorney. "The billboard company basically censored the picture. It was done at the direction of Foamation, not our direction."

The billboard on Highway 41 is owned by EMC Outdoor, a Pennsylvania firm. A company official did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

Ed Sarskas, attorney for Foamation, confirmed that he told the billboard company that if a lawsuit were to be filed against the physicians group, it was likely the billboard company would also be sued. Sarskas said billboard company officials were "cooperative and reasonable."

The billboard company "recognized Foamation's intellectual property rights and didn't see any reason to invite a dispute," said Sarskas, a partner with Michael Best & Friedrich. "They put the billboard up the way they decided to, which in our view makes sense under the circumstances."

The billboard company didn't censor the picture.

It didn't want to "invite a dispute." That makes sense.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, on the other hand, claims to have wanted a lawsuit, no doubt for the attention it would bring. Very PETA-ish.
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Don't mess with a cheesehead!

From NBC26 News:

If you drive past Lambeau Field on your way to work you'll notice a new billboard that's sure to raise a few eyebrows. "The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine" is sponsoring a billboard showing the grim reaper wearing a Cheesehead Hat with the message. "Warning: Cheese can sack your health. Fat. Cholesterol. Sodium.

Those behind the message say most foods served at Lambeau are typically loaded with cheese and other high fat dairy products, which isn't good for your health.

The billboard can be seen in De Pere along Highway 41.

Read more about Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and its weird billboard.

NBC26 video:



Foamation, the St. Francis company that makes cheeseheads, is taking legal action against the wacky Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine.

From 620 WTMJ:

The head of the company that makes cheeseheads says they have asked their legal team to contact a non-profit group that is putting up a billboard in Wisconsin about the dangers of eating cheese.

The group Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine has taken out an ad to be placed on a billboard near Highway 41 in De Pere.

The ad has a photo of the "Grim Reaper" that says "Warning: Cheese Can Sack Your Health" followed by words "Fat. Cholesterol. Sodium."

"(We're) getting our attorney on the phone to find out how quickly they could get in touch with that organization to get them to pull down that advertisement, because they're illegally using Foamation intellectual property in an ad," Ralph Bruno of Foamation in St. Francis told Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Jay Sorgi.

"We did not license them to use the likeness of a cheesehead hat in any way, shape or form."

A lawyer for the group tells Newsradio 620 WTMJ that they are not trying to impinge upon the copyright, but use the cheesehead as a spoof in their attempt to educate the public about the dangers of eating too much cheese.

"We were aware before we put up the billboard that the cheesehead is a copyrighted thing. If we were in the business of selling souvenirs to Packers fans, we would be violating the copyright of Foamation which owns the copyright to the cheesehead. We're not doing that.," claimed Dan Kinburn, general counsel of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "We're engaged in free speech."

"It's a parody. We're not denigrating the cheesehead. We just want people to understand that by choosing a diet that's high in meat and high in cheese, they're choosing a diet that's going to lead to illness and death."

Oh, no! Of course not!

There's nothing denigrating about depicting the GRIM REAPER wearing a cheesehead.

This is not the way for these anti-meat and cheese nuts to get their message out.