Last Week Tonight was on a summer break for nearly all of July. Unacceptable! With this dumpster fire of an administration, we don’t need less Last Week Tonight — we need Yesterday Today! At least the current drought is over, with John Oliver having returned in excellent form for last Sunday’s show. After paying due homage to Jimothy, Oliver dove right into a main story on Trump’s cryptocurrency windfall this term. Thoroughly depressing, but it did give Oliver ample opportunity to roast Tweedleditz and Tweedledunce, aka Don Jr. and Eric. But it was how Oliver ended the episode that was truly marvelous. Oliver started a coda segment that seemed to be a nod to the World Cup ending. More specifically, he shared a few priceless clips of international visitors going berserk at our United States chain stores, before zeroing in on one such store for further scrutiny: Buc-ee’s, a Southern-based franchise of gas stations with ginormous convenience stores. (And, purportedly, the “cleanest bathrooms in America!”) Buc-ee’s locations are instantly recognizable thanks to a bright logo with their plucky mascot, Buc-ee the beaver. As Oliver went on to reveal, Buc-ee’s Corp’s favorite pastime seems to be aggressively suing predominantly small companies with animal mascots over trademark infringement. Most of the suits are settled in favor of Buc-ee’s, simply because smaller companies don’t have the means to fight back. That is, until a certain chaos gremlin with HBO money decided to enter the fray:
Oliver detailed the company’s penchant for suing small businesses whose logos feature cartoon animals, even when they bear very little or no resemblance to Buc-ee’s famous — and trademarked — grinning beaver logo.
“Buc-ee’s loves to sue other companies, particularly those with animal mascots,” Oliver said in the episode, noting the chain has filed over a dozen lawsuits over the years and threatened a bunch more. Oliver also points out Buc-ee’s has won almost all of the cases because the other companies usually opt to settle and redesign their logos or just fold completely because, as Oliver points out, “most just don’t have the resources to fight a company this big.”
Oliver goes on to quote one legal expert who said Buc-ee’s should be careful with this strategy because the more you sue these smaller companies, the higher the chance you might run into one who has the means to fight back.
“And that is where we come in,” Oliver said in the segment. “Because it turns out, we very much have the will to get into a fight with Buc-ee’s.”
During the segment, Oliver reintroduces Mr. Nutterbutter, a 7-foot-tall squirrel mascot originally created for a 2017 segment taking aim at former coal executive Bob Murray, which resulted in an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against the show and HBO.
The show created a cartoon logo of Mr. Nutterbutter that looks similar to the Buc-ee’s logo and put the logo on a variety of products, including tumblers, hats, shirts, onesies, mugs and pajamas, among other items.
The items are available for purchase for a limited time at Buc-Off.com, Oliver says in the segment, with all profits going to Hunger Free America, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to end domestic hunger.
“So, if any prominent gas station chain out there has an issue with our new logo and products and wants to get lawyers involved, then you know what? Bring it the f–k on. Although remember, in doing so, you’d be directly taking food out of hungry people’s mouths,” Oliver says in the segment.
YES! Just last month I mentioned how I was itching for a classic, convoluted John Oliver stunt. Something on par with his greatest hits, like giving a bakery a shuttered Red Lobster’s equipment in exchange for them baking up John Oliver novelty cakes, or rigging the New Zealand Bird of the Century contest with a global ad campaign. You know, work that really does good in the world. Well, Oliver heard me and he delivered! And clearly I wasn’t the only one with this yen; what was so fun in watching the clip was that before Oliver even said “And that is where we come in,” the audience knew where he was headed and cheered enthusiastically to convey their assent. Then pulling in Mr. Nutterbutter? Genius. As is giving all proceeds to Hunger Free America, and naming the whole venture “Buc-Off.” I’ve already purchased a pair of boxer briefs to give to my friend for his birthday.
I love love love it when Oliver calls a villain’s bluff like this. While I want nothing more than for Buc-ee’s to take the bait, Oliver has kind of brilliantly set it up so that it would be a PR disaster for Buc-ee’s to do so. And speaking of PR disaster, Oliver also exposed the core hypocrisy of Buc-ee’s relentless trademark lawsuits: the fact that their own mascot is a rip-off of Ipana toothpaste’s Bucky Beaver!! J’accuse!!
I *LOVE *JOHN *OLIVER *!!!
I hate the show’s hiatus brieaks, too, Kismet! LWT is the bright spot of the week; you can count on JO to call out the bullshit. I know it takes time for his team to research stuff, but c’mon HBO, spend some of that HBO $$$$$$$$ and put ’round the clock staffers to keep up! We want MORE JO!
I’m all out of my John Oliver “and now … a stamp” stamps
Has Buc-ee’s ever asked the Canadian beaver — who’s been around for so much longer as a mascot — if he wants to be a part of their lawsuits?
Good luck to John Oliver, his squirrel, and the Hunger Free America org.
It’s clearly parody which is protected under the constitution. I would love to be a fly on the wall in HBO legal department. Every time John Oliver and his writers have an idea. They have to figure out how he can make it happen.
He makes those attorneys work for their money.
Love it!!
All the contestants in the New Zealand Bird of the Year are dancing and saying “Go John!”
My mugs are on their way.