COFFEE GIANT GETS "ROASTED" BY COMEDIAN

 Comedy Central Star Pushes The Limits Of Parody

By Ian Dotson

        Comedian Nathan Fielder is no stranger to testing the boundaries of the US law with his viral stunts. On his documentary-reality comedy show "Nathan For You," he goes to different small businesses, gives them outrageous advice and waits for the inevitable chaos or comedy to ensue. In one episode, Fielder helps one client create a haunted house experience so terrifying that people actually levied emotional distress lawsuits against the business owner. Fielder shows up with a camera crew and it seems like, in spite of the absurdity of his ideas, people go along with the stunts because somehow a camera crew legitimizes the whole situation. In the haunted house episode, Fielder states "in order to scare customers at a haunted house to the point of a lawsuit, Nathan must make them believe that they have contracted a deadly disease." Nathan plays a sort of puppet master; sewing chaos and then reaping shocking comedy from it. This kind of cringe comedy sits in the same realm as Sascha Baren Cohen's "Borat" character, where the often unknowing participants of the sketch provide the comedy itself in their reactions to the ridiculous situations they find themselves in.

Another episode was so outlandish that it attracted International media coverage. The 2014 episode featured Fielder opening a brick and mortar store in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles called "Dumb Starbucks." The initial advertisement can be seen here. The coffee shop, set up as an "art exhibit" so as to bypass local health codes, used the Starbucks logo, signature green aprons, store layout and even popular drink names with one caveat: they all included the word "Dumb." The store went viral almost immediately with a line of patrons circling the block. One would think that Starbucks would be up in arms about such a blatant ripoff of their signature brand. But in this instance, Fielder claimed, he was protected under parody law from any sort of copyright infringement claims. Starbucks must have known this, but as their public response suggests they also must not have taken it very seriously. The coffee titans addressed the viral sensation with a short social media statement saying it was "clearly not a Starbucks." The masses continued to swarm the location with everyone involved questioning the origin of the overnight sensation. Was this an anti-consumerist protest aimed at Starbucks? Was it just a "dumb" prank? The buzz even led some to believe it was an avant-garde Banksy installation.

You may be asking how this was even legal. How could someone appropriate an entire business model, logo and all, and at the same time defame the stolen brand with the word "dumb" and get away with it? Was it slander? Was it defamation? Was it theft? The short answer is: in this country, parody is protected under the First Amendment as a form of free expression. Dumb Starbucks was legal, protected speech. (There are of course categories of unprotected speech i.e. obscenity, child pornography, fraud, etc.) According to Cornell Law, Fielder was able to avoid liability because under US parody laws "generally, courts are more likely to find that a parody qualifies as fair use if its purpose is to serve as a social commentary and not for purely commercial gain." Dumb Starbucks was safe. It was protected expression. It was "art." Or at least it was until the Los Angeles Health Department arrived. The gag coffee shop was officially shut down only three days later for failing to present a valid public health permit.

SOURCES:

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/dumb-starbucks-los-feliz-coffee-shop-parody/58279/

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/dumb-starbucks-nathan-fielder-los-feliz-comedy-central/1991301/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/12/dumb-starbucks-trademark-lawyer

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/02/10/dumb-starbucks-parody-free-coffee/5357597/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo_deCOd1HU

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/dumb-starbucks-and-the-art-of-the-hoax 

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/dumb-starbucks-prank-shut-down-l-health-department-n26956

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akpZBpjQRFk

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/parody#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20parody,combat%20claims%20of%20copyright%20infringement.