A sandwich shop called Sub Station II received a lawsuit threat from South Carolina’s DE Jadeveon Clowney through his agent Bus Cook on Wednesday. The threat was because of a sign Sub Station had in front of their store that contained Clowney’s name.
Once news of the sign came out, shopowner Charlie Ruffalo was approached and threatened by Cook.
“He threatened to file an injunction to get me to take it down,” Ruffalo said. “I explained to him, ‘If you want to spend the time, effort and money of your client to take it down, I’ll do it for free if you are a nice guy.’
Ruffalo says the shop does not offer a Clowney sandwich and the name drop was “just in good taste.”
“It’s a play on [Clowney’s] two speeding tickets. If we did have such a sub and if it was endorsed by him, it would go really fast as in sales,” Ruffalo said. “It’s just a play on words.”
Cook, on the other hand, defends the reason behind the threat:
“I’ve been doing this business for twenty-something years,” Cook said. “I’ve never known people to arbitrarily and openly take somebody’s name and use it for their benefit without getting permission. And that’s what this is.”
Ruffalo will change the sign on Monday but Clowney’s name will stay on the sign.
No matter what, the lawsuit only brings more publicity to the sandwich shop. So, even if he changes the sign, it is still a win-win situation for Sub Station II.
Here’s the Sub Station II sign in Rock Hill that pokes fun at Jadeveon Clowney’s speeding tickets: pic.twitter.com/OkZ1n4KjFE
— Sara Jane Harris (@SaraJaneHarris) January 23, 2014
[WRHI]
