Florida State University Seminoles

Have you ever been sitting at a high school football game and looked at their mascot and thought this.... "Hmmmm... I bet because this team has a bulldog as their mascot and it slightly resembles the GA Bulldogs college team, this must mean that The University of Georgia is in someway affiliated with this high school team."  For me, the answer to that would be a big NO!

Well, evidently Florida State University believes just that and is going after high schools, middle schools, and whoever else they think is using a mascot that resembles theirs.  It was written in the Atlanta Journal Constitution that a letter sent by the Collegiate Licensing Company on behalf of the university, said the schools' logo and mascot "may cause consumers to erroneously believe that the university has authorized Salem High School to use its marks. Additionally, it will dilute the distinctiveness of the marks that the public associates with the university."

Are you kidding me?  I could understand if Salem High School, or any other team for that matter, was using a mascot and promoting it as being related to the College team, and then was trying to sell and profit from the resemblance, but that simply is not the case.  So, Florida State University has sent legal cease and desist letters to schools giving them a deadline to remove the the Seminole from their helmets, uniforms, etc. The cost to the public schools is going to be astonishing.  Think about things like gym floors, wall murals, signs outside the schools, and all the other expensive things that will need to be replaced. 

Interestingly enough, the elementary school  and recreation dept. right down the road from me has a Seminole as a Mascot. I checked out their mascot, and what do you know?  Click here to see the Seminole resemblance.  Click here to compare it to the Florida State Seminoles mascot. Where does it end?  I guess they will target all of the little league teams across the country, as well.

I couldn't help but wonder about other mascots, so I did a quick check of my Alma mater, and what do you know?  The Berkmar Patriot is almost identical to the New England Patriot's mascot.  Here they are side by side.  I'm thinking my old high school better put some money in savings if this is the wave of the future.



This is the official New England Patriot's Logo.

This is the logo used at my Alma Mater.

Is it just me or are they pushing this a bit too far?  I just can't help but think that Florida State University should have better things to do than target public schools and recreation departments when their use of the Seminole logo/mascot is not intended for financial gain and they are in no way insinuating they are affiliated with the college team.  My suggestion for FSU is to move on and quit messing with the little guys!

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