Mark Oberholtzer, owner of Mark-1 Plumbing in Texas City, has suddenly found his business advertised internationally. However, it is not quite the exposure that he was hoping for. A recent picture of the Islamic extremist brigade Ansar al-Deen Front in Syria shows their fighters firing an anti-aircraft gun mounted on a truck proudly displaying his name and logo. Can anyone say “misappropriation of name or likeness”? My expectations is that a tort lawsuit is not troubling these extremists as a priority concern.
Oberholtzer has no idea how one of his trucks ended up in Syria. He traded in the Ford F-250 to an AutoNation dealership three years ago and expected them to remove his decal. He is eager for the public to know that he is not a supplier or supporter of the Ansar al-Deen Front. It makes for a tad of tension with customers in letting you into their homes.
As for AutoNation, they have refused to say anything and hung up on a reporter after saying “We can’t give information like that over the phone.”
They do a heck of a job blasting out a septic tank. Be sure to pay the bill on time.
There’s an old saying “if you want something done right, do it yourself.” Amazing how things people thought, long before us, are still true.
My concern is that American trucks may be stolen from people and dealerships in bordering states and sold to terrorist.
I worked a case involving a business selling a van w/ it’s business name still on it. The agreement was the purchaser would remove the sign but he did not. The new owner did some nefarious deeds and my client sued him over hurting their business reputation. I learned investigating this case that it happened quite often. This poor guy learned the hard way. I have advised folks since I worked that case ~20 years ago to be proactive and always remove the business sign themselves before selling. It costs money but it’s worth it.
This could prove to be an interesting investigation by the feds.
It would certainly seem that Mark-1 Plumbing would have grounds for a lawsuit against AutoNation for damages to their business reputation, don’t you think? Might be an opportunity to recover their image or be compensated for its loss.
The extremists are fighting in the name of Allah. In my state we call Mark by his first name not his last name. So when they blow some guy away with the weapon in the rear of the truck they are marking 1 down for Allah. Mark II is a tank.
Clarification: Those state by states tax stickers mean you’ve arranged to pay the state involved taxes monthly…thus with them the cops do not stop you for not having done so.
Without clicking on the link, it appears that AutoNation is connected to Chechen fighters. Not sure that is the impression that was supposed to be made.
Evidently Autonation is exporting vehicles to Syria?
Technically, sellers and/or buyers here are required to remove prior owner logos, DOT numbers, fuel tags from various states, etc….e.g., you drive through state X and don’t buy fuel there, they still expect you to pay an excise tax on the fuel burned driving through…derived from the driver’s log book. Indiana and Ohio are sticklers on this pass through tax.
Taxes aside, the reason for the removal requirement is to prevent con men & thieves from using the vehicle as a prop when hustling door to door.
Great lesson in protecting the brand, how easy it would have been to take the decals off himself, ah hindsight!