Lawsuits, Empowerment & Whiskey

Is being sued a Right of Passage? What about getting a Cease and Desist letter? A request for Mediation? I have a friend who runs a clothing company… he uses Cease and Desist letters to drive traffic to his website. He publishes them so his customers can see them, and inevitably, whatever the product is that’s referenced in the Cease and Letter sells out pretty quickly once the customers know there’s some conflict around it (if he ever reads this blog I’ll probably get a Cease and Desist letter of my very own… of course, that would mean that someone actually reads this blog).

You can imagine that a particular whiskey company wasn’t thrilled about the shape of the bottle in this image (not to mention all sorts for ‘Family First’ groups). But the spin on aggressive legal actions is a bit refreshing. There’s something to be said for spinning a threat of litigation into a positive outcome. I’m not sure that means being sued, or any being involved in any legal action is particularly welcome… but that idea that we don’t have to live in permanent fear is empowering.