As Easter Sunday quickly approaches and the Easter Bunny and his minions work to fill the Easter Baskets of children all over the world, a lawsuit has hopped onto the scene which could affect the holiday for years.
According to legal documents provided to this Modern Philosopher, the Peeps Company is being sued for unpaid royalties by the family of the bunny wabbit…I mean rabbit…who was the original model for the bunny version of the irresistible marshmallow treats.
“Not only is the resemblance to my clients’ ancestor astounding, but there is also an iron clad contract between the candy company and one Mr. Reginald Roscoe Rabbit, which promises him, and his heirs, a 1% share of all sales of the candies made in his image for perpetuity,” explained Cy Brown, the famed Bangor attorney who represents the family. “There is no way they can wiggle out of this. Money is owed, and judging from the sales of Peeps the last decade alone, a great deal of money is owed to my clients.”
“My great-great-great-grandfather Reggie was so proud of the fact that they picked him out of all the bunnies in the world,” explained Bartholomew Q. Rabbit, the family spokesrabbit. “He probably would’ve done it for free, considering what an honor it was, but the Peeps people gave him that contract and promised to pay him. We haven’t seen a cent for the past twenty years!”
The picture on the left of young Reggie Rabbit in his pre-modeling days. What a cutie, right?
The candy conglomerate had no comment on the story, and my sources tell me they are trying to keep the lawsuit under the radar until after Easter. “They don’t want to risk looking like the bad guys and having the Easter Bunny decide to not use Peeps in all his baskets this year. That would be a huge blow to their bottom line,” my source explained.
Cy Brown is a dear friend of the blog, however, so when he asked me to write about this case, I was happy to do it. “This isn’t going to affect my Passover one way or the other,” Cy explained to me today during his visit to The House on the Hill. “But there is a family of adorable bunnies to whom this means a great deal. How can we let bunnies be sad at Easter? Am I right?”
What do you think, Modern Philosophers? Should the peeps at Peeps head this off now and just settle with Reggie’s heirs? Do you think the bunnies have a leg to stand on? What color Peeps is your favorite?
I don’t know about you, but this post is making my tummy rumble. I’m going to find something to eat, and I look forward to coming back and reading your comments.
Happy Easter Week!
Have you seen the peeps pole dancers on Facebook?
No! Where would I find that???
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341cf11753ef01156ffb93fd970b
Well, what about the Peeps chicks? Who represents their interests?
I am a HUGE fan of Peeps, truth to tell. We open the packages two weeks before Easter, so they’ll be nice and stale and crunchy on the big day.
Yum.
I’m not sure if the chicks plan to sue, or what sort of agreement they made with the company. I just know about Reggie the Rabbit’s deal… 🙂
The peeps at Peeps should settle. My favorite peep color is blue. The company should pay its respects to Reggie too.
That rhymes. Bonus points for a rhyming answer! 🙂
I didn’t even realize haha!
I was looking for Peeps tonight and could only find these awful, oversized, individually wrapped things that probably had some kind of weird filling in them. I was too scared to look.
Hmmm…maybe the lawsuit is already having an effect on sales…
LOL
big problem,you’re making me want a purple peep on passover!
Sorry. I did remember to wish The Girl Who Goes To Temple a Happy Passover, so I’m proud of myself for that. 🙂
then, you’re a good boy.i’m proud of you too.
LOL “the girl who goes to temple”.
Sounds more politically correct than “the Jewish girl I love…” 😀
lol.it does and it is cute!
🙂
Ok, this was a masterpiece of hilarity. I needed a good laugh, and you were brilliant with this piece Austin! Here’s hoping the wabbits win!
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the positive comments and for always reading my nonsense. 🙂
And if they don’t fork over the money now, there will be no eggs for Easter!
Yikes!
I live in the UK – what are Peeps??? And how can I get one??
There’s a pic right there in the post. Marshmallow treats…yum!
Yum! 😀
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
AND YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD TROUBLES!–Jonathan
Reggie Rabbit in his pre-modeling days is super cute!
I thought so, too. So adorable!!!
Yello Peeps only! Those other bastardized colors are imposters!
Will I still eat them? Sure I will!
You’ll have to start a separate lawsuit to complain about the colors… 🙂