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¡Juan Valdez Drinks Costa Rican Coffee! Or Does He?
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| Everyone has heard of Juan Valdez, the lovable Colombian
coffee farmer who has helped to make Colombian coffee as famous as it is
today. Created to help sell coffee, Juan Valdez is a fictional character
created around 1959. Since then, he has been played by numerous actors, but
is always seen wearing a white work shirt, with matching pants, a black tie,
and a straw hat. He is the iconic figure of the Colombian coffee market. But does Juan Valdez actually drink Colombian coffee? Or does Juan Valdez drink Costa Rican coffee??
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| In 2006 Fedcafé filed a lawsuit against Café Britt in the
amount of $1,000,000 because Café Britt had refused to sign a contract
stating that it would cease to use the slogan. Fedcafé also stated that Café
was ignoring the intellectual property of Fedcafé by using the image and
name of Juan Valdez. Instead of bowing to Fedcafé's wishes, Café filed a countersuit in the amount of $200,000 and produced an affidavit from a Costa Rican whose name was, of course, Juan Valdez. This affidavit stated that this man's name was indeed Juan Valdez, and he does drink Costa Rican coffee. Along with affidavit, Café Britt also brought to light that the slogan and name was so common that it is unable to be protected under law. The final agreement, and only agreement, was that Café Britt recall all the t-shirts on shelves. There was no monetary exchange between the two companies. Although, freelance bumper stickers are still able to be bought at joke shops and souvenir stores around Costa Rica.
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| Links... Home
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| Sources... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Valdez_drinks_Costa_Rican_coffee
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Café
Britt, in Costa Rica, seems to think that he does. In years prior to 2006,
Café Britt had been producing bumper stickers, t-shirts and memorabilia that
bear the slogan "Juan Valdez Drinks Costa Rican Coffee" as a marketing
campaign and a slight shot at the iconic character of Juan Valdez. The
people of Costa Rica found the items to be funny and possibly true, and the
items became very popular, very fast. However, the producers of coffee in
Colombia, especially Fedcafé, didn't think it was very funny.