OK, I've also found one cite of a man named Ronald McDonald threatening to sue McDonald's because "use of the name Ronald McDonald for the clown used by the company to entertain children was an insult to the Scottish clan system." He states that McDonald's is saying that people named McDonald can't use the name, but I can't find any actual cases of that. I'd assume that someone setting up a new fast food restaurant would want to use a name other than McDonald's, so that people would know that they were a new, local, different company, and not the mediocre international chain.

What I heard ita to be saying, and what in any case I believe to be the case, is if you want to persuade Buffistas of the rightness of your cause, you'd better show up with solid sources. You won't change many minds with "hearsay and urban legend".

I have some recollection of the case Zoe mentions, but I can't recall the outcome or find much reference to it. I don't have access to Lexis here, that might get better results.

I mean, it matters a lot to me, as I guess you can tell, but I wouldn't expect to convince the rest of the world/Buffistas that it is all life and death for them.

What Betsy said -- it sounded to me like you were your audience wasn't worth being prepared for.

Me, I'm terrified of not fact checking before talking to these folks.

I don't want them to make me cry, or anything.

I have some recollection of the case Zoe mentions, but I can't recall the outcome or find much reference to it.

Snopes has nothing. The closest I could find through googling, including mcspotlight.org, was the McMunchie case.

What Betsy said -- it sounded to me like you were your audience wasn't worth being prepared for.

My apologies ita.

Oral culture?

Zoe, people in Brazil were enraged. But I don't think it was only a matter of national idenity but of unfairness. In other words I think it is primarily unfairness rather than national identity that causes the outrage.

The link below includes the Brazilian flag..

[link]

The link below includes the BP logo.

[link]

I chose these links because the logos are both small, thus as similar as they are likely to get. In larger sizes they differences are much more obvious. Now is the comparison above really a Ray's Pizza/Ray's orginial case? I mean do they look that bloody similar that you are likely to be confused? Similar color - very different shape. And the Brazilian center is blue vs white for BP. Of course the fact that it is the national flag adds a bit to the feeling of outrage.

[Edited because of posting Brazilian flag twice instead of flag and logo.]

Have there been protests or anything in Scotland when new McDonald's restaurants opened? I vaguely recalled the McMunchies case, but until today, I'd never heard anything more than generalized grumbling over the "big corporation stole our name" issue.