Taco John's Actually Wields Its Taco Tuesday Trademark

Taco Tuesday is so ubiquitous, you'd assume it's like a smiley face—part of our collective imagination, creditable to no one, a symbol in the public domain. But actually, both the yellow smiley face and Taco Tuesday are trademarked, the former by a French guy and the latter by Cheyenne, Wyoming-based purveyor of Potato Olés, Taco John's.

I noted the Taco Tuesday trademark as an aside in my ode to Potato Olés, but I wasn't aware that the company currently protects said trademark, which its held since 1989. Today I learned, it does.

While Taco Tuesday promotions happen in likely thousands of places around the country every week, one recently popped up a bit too close to Taco John's home turf. USA Today reports Freedom's Edge Brewing Co., located just blocks rom Taco John's HQ, received a cease-and-desist letter from the taco chain informing the brewery that it would need to stop promoting a local taco truck's arrival at the brewery as a "Taco Tuesday" event.

"We have nothing against Taco John's but do find it comical that some person in their corporate office would choose to send a cease and desist to a brewery that doesn't sell or profit from the sales of tacos (instead of one of the millions of restaurants that do sell tacos and call it Taco Tuesday).," the brewery wrote on Facebook. "We actually got a pretty big laugh out of it all because it was so ridiculous."

This isn't the first time Taco John's has defended its claim to Taco Tuesday. It's fired off cease and desist letters to restaurants from Oklahoma to Wisconsin in the past. Someone better tell LeBron he's on thin ice.

In the meantime, The Takeout has decided it's time we trademark some food events of our own. Current contenders: Sundae Sunday (also a chance to teach kids the importance of homophones), Wagyu Wednesday (kind of pricey, though), Fry Day Friday, Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich Monday.