I think the general public knows the difference between a face and a butt. —Albert Watkins, attorney representing The South Butt
A University of Missouri engineering freshman and entrepreneur, Jimmy Winkelmann, is busy getting a real-life legal education. Winkelmann is the owner of The South Butt, a clothing company that spoofs the widely known wilderness apparel line, The North Face. Claiming to "poke fun at the norm, while making an affordable and quality product," The South Butt sells backpacks, sweatshirts, fleeces, jackets, and hats that parody the products sold by The North Face. A disclaimer on The South Butt website warns:
The South Butt immediately took an aggressive media stance in response to the suit. On his blog, Winkelmann announced the pending lawsuit:
Mere days after The North Face filed the complaint, The South Butt garnered tremendous public support through their social media efforts. Over 19,000 “fans” joined The South Butt’s Facebook site. The South Butt Twitter account grew to nearly 2,000 followers. Traffic to The South Butt website skyrocketed, causing the site to experience outages.
The lawsuit catapulted South Butt into the media spotlight. News agencies and bloggers began to refer to the case as a “David versus Goliath showdown,” with poor little Jimmy Winkelmann pit against the $7 billion plus powerhouse. The South Butt’s tongue-in-cheek response played up the media commentary, describing little Jimmy as a “handsome cross between Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman of ‘What, Me Worry?' fame, and Skippy the Punk from the Midwest.” The response goes on to note that 19-year old Jimmy "looks 14" and "acts 12." Photos of the seemingly wholesome, grinning Jimmy spread across the Internet.
The lawsuit brought Jimmy and The South Butt worldwide attention—not to mention a substantial increase in sales—and The North Face may have gotten a little more than they bargained for:
A University of Missouri engineering freshman and entrepreneur, Jimmy Winkelmann, is busy getting a real-life legal education. Winkelmann is the owner of The South Butt, a clothing company that spoofs the widely known wilderness apparel line, The North Face. Claiming to "poke fun at the norm, while making an affordable and quality product," The South Butt sells backpacks, sweatshirts, fleeces, jackets, and hats that parody the products sold by The North Face. A disclaimer on The South Butt website warns:We are not in any fashion related to nor do we want to be confused with The North Face Apparel Corp. or its products sold under "The North Face" brand. If you are unable to discern the difference between a face and a butt, we encourage you to buy North Face products.In mid-December, The North Face filed a suit against The South Butt in the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging trademark infringement, dilution and unfair competition. The complaint alleges that Winkelmann and his company “are marketing apparel that directly and unabashedly infringes and dilutes The North Face’s trade dress in its iconic Denali jacket.”
The South Butt immediately took an aggressive media stance in response to the suit. On his blog, Winkelmann announced the pending lawsuit:
We’re being sued!The South Butt’s Facebook quiz quickly went viral. "Know the difference between a face and a butt?" the quiz asks. "Let's find out." Users click through a variety of closely cropped photographs of faces and butts, collecting points for knowing the difference between the two.
Hey everybody -
News came Friday afternoon that The North Face has decided to take us to court! …Because of this, we've launched a new Facebook app that allows you see the difference between a face and a butt. It's a ton of fun and can be a bit addicting! Here is the link: The South Butt Challenge on Facebook.
We're up against a $7 billion dollar powerhouse (The North Face, owned by VF Corporation), but we feel confident with our idea and our friends, family, and supporters!
Mere days after The North Face filed the complaint, The South Butt garnered tremendous public support through their social media efforts. Over 19,000 “fans” joined The South Butt’s Facebook site. The South Butt Twitter account grew to nearly 2,000 followers. Traffic to The South Butt website skyrocketed, causing the site to experience outages.
The lawsuit catapulted South Butt into the media spotlight. News agencies and bloggers began to refer to the case as a “David versus Goliath showdown,” with poor little Jimmy Winkelmann pit against the $7 billion plus powerhouse. The South Butt’s tongue-in-cheek response played up the media commentary, describing little Jimmy as a “handsome cross between Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Newman of ‘What, Me Worry?' fame, and Skippy the Punk from the Midwest.” The response goes on to note that 19-year old Jimmy "looks 14" and "acts 12." Photos of the seemingly wholesome, grinning Jimmy spread across the Internet.
The lawsuit brought Jimmy and The South Butt worldwide attention—not to mention a substantial increase in sales—and The North Face may have gotten a little more than they bargained for:
In the age of viral media and social networking, plaintiffs must take into account the ability of “the little guy” to use the lawsuit to gather significant support. This free exposure can generate revenue to fund the defense and create ill will towards the plaintiff.
In a society saturated by social media, the filing of a lawsuit, warranted or not, can have tremendous negative public relations ramifications. Mike Masnick, founder of Techdirt observes that “[a]nyone filing lawsuits these days needs to realize how the court of public opinion can weigh in quite loudly on such things.” In the case of The South Butt, the court of public opinion weighed in heavily for Jimmy, a sympathetic, young character who "doesn’t have enough money in his left pocket to pay for a six-pack of Coca-Cola." As for The North Face—the behemoth corporation that set out to take little Jimmy down—whether they win or lose, it seems, they lose.
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