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United finally took a look at my web site, and as expected,
they didn't like what they saw. They sent a letter
to my old address in Toronto, which I told them was no longer valid
back in September 1996. This was forwarded to my father,
who relayed some of the contents to me. Most interesting is the
following (paraphrased, since I did not have access to the exact
text):
Sorry to learn about the damage to the wool dress. Unfortunately we
do not offer an area onboard for hanging garment bags and the creasing
was not brought to the attention of our staff upon arrival. Sorry we
are unable to assume liability for this damage and sorry to dissapoint
you.
Of course, anyone who has flown on a United Airlines jet in recent
years knows that this is pure rubbish. There are several storage areas
onboard suitable for garment bags, and I was assured when making my
reservation that I would have no trouble hanging my suit in one of
these. However, I am happy to see that after seven months, someone
at United has finally apologized for the damage.
Anyway, the letter continues:
As we have had the opportunity to view your web site at:
http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~jer/poorshow
we are asking that you remove any and all of our copywrited [sic]
trademarks
and slogans immediately. The United Airlines logo and the phrase
"Fly our Friendly Skies" are liscensed [sic] to United Airlines Inc.
and cannot be used without our approval. Failure to comply with this
request will result in our seeking damages for use.
Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to respond. I trust we'll
have the privilege of serving you whenever your plans call for
air travel.
Sincerely
"M", Customer Relations
ref # 0220779C
c.c. Tom Frasier- UAL Legal Department
Since the folks at United's Customer Relations department couldn't
seem to send their mail to the correct address, nor do they know the
correct spelling of "copyright" and "license," it was hard to take them
seriously. Even more absurd is that the person who signed the letter
("M") told me, around the same time that this letter was sent, that he
no longer works for United Airlines.
In any case, as a show of good faith, I immediately removed United's
copyrighted trademarks and slogans from my web pages, and replaced the
earlier logo, which was simply a big red "X" spray-painted through
United's infamous friendly skies banner,
along with the handwritten words, "Yeah, right!" below it.
The new logo featured the introduction of the "UNTIED AIRLINES" parody,
including the appropriate phrase, "The most unfriendly Skies." A big
red circle with a slash (based on the popular "no smoking" signs)
covered the title, the double-U logo (United's trademark) was reversed
so as to avoid any trademark dispute, and all identifying marks on the
United airplane were "censored."
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