Hulk Hogan Says Calling People 'Brother' And Your Muscles 'Guns' Violates His Publicity Rights

from the oh-brother dept

Another day, another silly publicity rights claim. Apparently Hulk Hogan is suing a car dealership in St. Louis for violating his publicity rights. From the THREsq post on this:

Hogan is suing Southland Imports and Suntrup Automotive Group over a commercial that warns unwary car buyers of getting "body slammed" over bad deals and that invites customers "tired of wrestling for a good deal." The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Florida District Court alleges that the defendant violated Hogan's likeness and implied an endorsement by imitating his voice and using his catch phrases.

And what catch phrases does Hogan claim in the lawsuit to have popularized?

• The heavy use of "brother" to refer to one's acquaintances
• Pointing to one's own muscles and referring to them as "guns" (Watch out, Ron Burgundy)
• Reference to fans as "Hulkamaniacs"

Yet another case of publicity rights gone mad. Calling someone "brother" and referring to muscles as "guns" is something that's gone on for ages. Even if he did popularize it, it doesn't mean only he gets to use the phrases. But this is the sort of situation that's created by the pernicious nature of "ownership" culture, where people are being taught that they can "own" pretty much any idea or concept. It inevitably leads to clearly ridiculous lawsuits such as this one.

Filed Under: hulk hogan, publicity rights