Pez Sour on Owners of World's Largest Dispenser
Company to museum: destroy the snowman!
By JESSICA GREENE
Updated 4:50 PM CDT, Thu, Jul 2, 2009
It's recognized by most anyone who grew up snacking on faux-fruit-flavored candy.
Whether your favorite was topped with Snoopy, Goofy, Batman, Uncle Sam, Tweetie Bird or something totally unrecognizable in the cartoon world, like a giant eyeball, everyone recognizes the classic little pocket-sized candy container known as Pez.
But an oversized Pez dispenser at Burlingame's Museum of Pez Memorabilia that was honored by Guinness World Records is getting a second look from the company for all the wrong reasons.
Pez Candy Inc. says the museum's 7-foot, 10-inch snowman head-topped dispenser is not authorized to use the company's trademark. So the company is suing the museum's owners, Gary Doss and Nancy Yarbough Doss, demanding they destroy the colossal candy toy.
"Only plaintiffs or their licensees are authorized to create, distribute, advertise, market, promote and sell Pez products "... in the United States," the suit argues, according to the San Mateo Times.
The 85-pound Pez dispenser, which actually works, was certified by Guinness World Records in 2007 as the World's Largest Candy Dispenser.
The iconic candy company also takes issue with a couple of toy truck Pez dispensers on which the museum added the campaign logos of John McCain and Barack Obama. One of the dispensers bears the words, "Obama '08 for Pezident" the lawsuit states. But Pez says they never made political message candy dispensers.
The page dedicated to the huge dispenser on the museum's Web site states at the bottom, "Neither the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia or the World's Largest Dispenser of Pez website is affiliated with Pez Candy Inc."
There was no answer at the Pez Museum when we called for comment Wednesday morning.
First Published: Jul 1, 2009 10:48 AM CDT on NBC Bay Area
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