Last week, we shared the trailer for The Happytime Murders — a seriously NSFW comedy from Muppets helmer Brian Henson that features, among other things, a lengthy puppet ejaculation scene. In response to the movie's tagline, Sesame Street production company Sesame Workshop have now filed a lawsuit against the film.
According to The Wrap, the lawsuit take issue with the trailer's declaration of "No Sesame, all street," claiming that the tagline tarnishes the Sesame Street brand.
Here's an excerpt from the lawsuit:
Sesame seeks to enjoin Defendants' deliberate effort to appropriate its SESAME STREET mark, and its trusted brand and goodwill, to promote their R-rated movie, The Happytime Murders, by way of a violent and sexually-explicit trailer. SESAME STREET is a registered trademark of Sesame, an organization with a long and storied history of 'helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder,'" the suit, filed against STX Productions, reads. "Defendants' widely-distributed marketing campaign features a just-released trailer with explicit, profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating, and even ejaculating puppets, along with the tagline 'NO SESAME. ALL STREET.' Defendants do not own, control or have any right to use the SESAME STREET mark. Instead, they are distributing a trailer that deliberately confuses consumers into mistakenly believing that Sesame is associated with, has allowed, or has even endorsed or produced the movie and tarnishes Sesame's brand.
... (The) threat of irreparable injury posed to Sesame's mark and brand cannot be overstated. Sesame has worked for nearly 50 years to build, cultivate and maintain trust with its audience of parents and young children built on its reputation for wholesome educational programming. That trust, although built over a span of generations, is too easily lost and is now in jeopardy. Defendants threaten to inflict serious, irreparable damage to Sesame's mark and brand by associating their adult movie with Sesame Street.
The complaint adds that since the trailer has dropped, a number of social media posts have demonstrated the brand confusion caused by the trailer.
In a statement to The Wrap from STX Entertainment, someone from the company named Fred, Esq. said, "STX loved the idea of working closely with Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company to tell the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they're not performing in front of children. Happytime Murders is the happy result of that collaboration and we're incredibly pleased with the early reaction to the film and how well the trailer has been received by its intended audience.... While we're disappointed that Sesame Street does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer."
Revisit the trailer for The Happytime Murders below.
According to The Wrap, the lawsuit take issue with the trailer's declaration of "No Sesame, all street," claiming that the tagline tarnishes the Sesame Street brand.
Here's an excerpt from the lawsuit:
Sesame seeks to enjoin Defendants' deliberate effort to appropriate its SESAME STREET mark, and its trusted brand and goodwill, to promote their R-rated movie, The Happytime Murders, by way of a violent and sexually-explicit trailer. SESAME STREET is a registered trademark of Sesame, an organization with a long and storied history of 'helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder,'" the suit, filed against STX Productions, reads. "Defendants' widely-distributed marketing campaign features a just-released trailer with explicit, profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating, and even ejaculating puppets, along with the tagline 'NO SESAME. ALL STREET.' Defendants do not own, control or have any right to use the SESAME STREET mark. Instead, they are distributing a trailer that deliberately confuses consumers into mistakenly believing that Sesame is associated with, has allowed, or has even endorsed or produced the movie and tarnishes Sesame's brand.
... (The) threat of irreparable injury posed to Sesame's mark and brand cannot be overstated. Sesame has worked for nearly 50 years to build, cultivate and maintain trust with its audience of parents and young children built on its reputation for wholesome educational programming. That trust, although built over a span of generations, is too easily lost and is now in jeopardy. Defendants threaten to inflict serious, irreparable damage to Sesame's mark and brand by associating their adult movie with Sesame Street.
The complaint adds that since the trailer has dropped, a number of social media posts have demonstrated the brand confusion caused by the trailer.
In a statement to The Wrap from STX Entertainment, someone from the company named Fred, Esq. said, "STX loved the idea of working closely with Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company to tell the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they're not performing in front of children. Happytime Murders is the happy result of that collaboration and we're incredibly pleased with the early reaction to the film and how well the trailer has been received by its intended audience.... While we're disappointed that Sesame Street does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer."
Revisit the trailer for The Happytime Murders below.
