Colombia has a lot going against it. Massive drug cartels, rampant violent, poverty, etc. It’s one shining light of goodness is it’s coffee trade — and nothing personifies that trade like Juan Valdez.
Everyone knows him, we grew up on his commercials felt a kinship with him, his donkey and his sack of coffee beans. In Colombia he is an icon, and when that icon is messed with, Columbia’s claws come out.
Mike Peter’s has found himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit over his cartoon (above) that lampoons good old Juan Valdez. According to a report from the Associated Press:
The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation says it will sue “Mother Goose & Grimm” cartoonist Mike Peters “for damage and harm, detriment to intellectual property and defamation.”
Damages which add up to heft $20 million dollars. Peters was quoted as saying:
Peters told the AP Wednesday he loves Colombian coffee and did not intend any offense.
All I have to say is “Yikes!” and I’d like to point out how much we love Juan Valdez.
Tags: Cartoonist, Columbia, Juan Valdez, Lawsuit, Mother Goose & Grim
The donkey’s name is Conchita!
As a Colombian-American I think the lawsuit is meh!
Conchita is a mule, not a donkey. Juan Valdez coffee is very good, not because it is Colombian, but because it is good. If it was not good, being Colombian would not make it any better, just as being Colombian does not make it any worse.
What they say about violence in Colombia is completely true, and it could even sound worst if they mention how this crime syndicate is interwined with the current government (where you can find relatives and very good friends of Pablo Escobar, just to name a worldwide celebrity)
However, this has few to do with coffee growing. Coffee is, in fact, a factor that has prevented things from going worst.
Americans would, on the other hand, be very happy to consume other goods that really fuel crime and social tragedies, like biofuel. In Colombia, as well as in a handful of other countries, palm oil is the only industry apart from drugs (along perhaps with extensive stockbreeding) that has been directly linked to the practice of systematic massacre, displacement and land stealing from farmers.
Whoa! That comic strip is hilarious! Nice post indeed…lol
[...] read the original post Go Here! Comments (0) Posted in Coffee [...]
Very nice post it’s funny. I guess there is nothing wrong with freedom of speech, because all of they stated in the comic strip are true.
hmmm…had never heard of this lawsuit before. Definitely think the cartoon is funny. Guess I’ll have to google to see how this turned out.