Bucky the Beaver may have finally bitten off more than he can chew. His litigious ways of suing seemingly the entire animal kingdom have gotten him noticed by one late-night host who says he has both the time and the money to take Buc-ee’s down.
John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, dedicated 13 minutes of his Sunday night show to Buc-ee’s, beginning with the awe of visiting World Cup tourists. Oliver then went on to detail Buc-ee’s numerous lawsuits against other convenience stores, T-shirt companies and even an underwear brand called “Nut Huggers,” where the company accuses them of trademark infringement.
Oliver notes that Buc-ee’s usually wins its cases because the smaller companies don’t have the resources to fight the case and either settle and redesign their logos or go out of business.
“But Buc-ee’s should be careful here because, as one legal expert has said, the more you do this, the more you might run into somebody who has the means or the will to fight with you,” Oliver said. “That’s where we come in, because it turns out, we very much have the will to get into a fight with Buc-ee’s.”
In response, Oliver and his show have debuted their own line of merch featuring the logo “Buc-Off” underneath encircled mascot Mr. Nutterbutter, “everyone’s favorite cartoon animal who doesn’t sue small businesses!”
You can see the abridged YouTube short of this video here; the Chron story embeds it from Instagram. The merch is now available, through September 8, at Buc-Off.com, with all revenue benefitting Hunger Free America. And good news, as first reported by the DMN and noted in an update in this story, Buc-ee’s has said they do not intend to sue Last Week Tonight over this. Probably for the best.
Oh, you know who else has noted Buc-ee’s litigious ways? This guy. Though I haven’t been keeping up with the beaver, as there have been many more lawsuits since the last one I noted. They seem to find any previously existing gas station/convenience store chain with an animal-themed mascot in whatever new state they’re opening up in, and go after them. Perhaps this will slow them down a bit. USA Today has more.
“ Buc-ee’s has said they do not intend to sue Last Week Tonight over this. ”
One of the hallmarks of being a bully is also being a coward. The lawsuit over the alligator mascot was as dumb as they come. They definitely deserve the roasting. A pity they chickened out, because it would have been so entertaining. The elaborate song and dance roast of the late and definitely not great Bob Murray was one of the most hilarious bits they ever did.
The Rice Graduate Student Association once did a satirical riff on Bucee’s as a Beer Bike theme. I’ve worn the T-shirt a few times into a Bucee’s. No one noticed.
I call them “Fuck You the Beaver.”
They’re one of three Texas retail cults along with What? A Burger? (overpriced) and HEB (usually overpriced compared to Kroger, and bulk food definitely overpriced compared to Winco, which you south Texas scrubbeenies don’t have).
I’ll tell you one thing you see at ZERO Fuck You’s that you see at a normal C-store that prove it’s a cult. I’ll let you think about it first.
Gadfly- I am no great fan of HEB, as they are slowly but surely eliminating most other brands besides their own and their sales suck, but for many, even most items they are still cheaper than the evil corporate giant that is Kroger. At least that is the case in Montrose/West U. I don’t have any idea what a scrubbeanie or a Winco is. Are you a space alien who got stranded here and is now bored out of your several minds? I have no plans to stop in at the rodent emporium, which anecdotally features long lines and hefty prices for mucho tourist junk.