A Michigan congressional candidate has reached a settlement with the Campbell's Company, maker of Campbell's soups, after the company said her campaign infringed on its copyright and falsely implied its endorsement.
Last month, Campbell’s filed a federal lawsuit in Michigan’s Eastern District against Shelby Campbell, a Democratic candidate for Michigan's 13th Congressional District.
Campbell's the soup company accused Campbell the candidate of capitalizing on Campbell's Soup branding to garner campaign recognition in the company's October court filing. Campbell’s sent Campbell a cease-and-desist letter on September 2, according to court documents. At the time, Campbell refused to stop using the Campbell's logo.
On Thursday, as part of the settlement, the court ordered Campbell cease use of Campbell’s trademark logo. She’s free to use the term “soup” in her campaign though, as long as it isn’t in conjunction with any reference to the Campbell's soup company.
Campbell, who calls her campaign “soup4change” said she's “excited” about the decision.
“I said, ‘I will die or I will go to prison before I can't use the word "soup,"'” Campbell told Michigan Public. “I was like, ‘You cannot restrict that,' … and we came to the agreement, so I'm not infringed, or I have not infringed upon Campbell's, and I can use the word 'soup' as long as I don't say that they are endorsing me.”
In the courtroom itself, Shelby Campbell said she was nervous. The judge was “a little sassy,” Campbell said.
“She just, like, looked at us like children,” Campbell said. “She was like, come on. … She was like, this is ridiculous. We did not need to be here.”
Campbell had previously used the soup company’s logo in campaign stickers and on her social media. The settlement requires Campbell to remove “disputed images,” including but not limited to any design that uses “Campbell’s Mark and trade dress” by November 21.
In an email to Michigan Public, James Regan, the director of external communications for the Campbell’s Company, pointed to the “section where the parties stipulated, and where the defendant agreed to stop using the images/material that we challenged" as the most important part of the settlement document.
Now, the congressional candidate said she's changing her logo to hot pink and black colors. “It’s time for a different look of politics,” Campbell said. “It doesn’t need to be so serious. Not everybody is so serious, and politics is supposed to represent everybody, and we just want to live and be happy.”
Her email and social media handles will remain “soup4change,” the way it has “been for my whole life,” Campbell said.
“It's not a pride thing, like, I got what I want. It's more of a screw you, Donald Trump, MAGA people that were dragging me,” Campbell said.
“As I said before, just believe in yourself,” Campbell said. “It's really hard to do so when the whole world has told you, like, you're wrong with a lot of things, but just stay true to yourself, and you can do anything you want. I know it sounds cliche, but you really can.”
James Regan, the director of external communications for Campbell’s Soup, said pointed to the “section where the parties stipulated, and where the defendant agreed to stop using the images/material that we challenged.”
