[StBernard] Jindal backpedaling on bumper stickers

[Westley Annis]

LSU, Tulane, Saints warn: Hands off


BATON ROUGE -- Those purple-and-gold "Tigers for Jindal" stickers are about
to become collectors' items. 
Under fire from university officials, U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal's campaign
agreed Wednesday to stop distributing bumper stickers that use Louisiana
State University's famous color scheme and nickname to promote the
congressman's run for governor. 
Spokesmen for the New Orleans Saints and Tulane University said Jindal's
campaign has also agreed to stop appropriating their color schemes and
nicknames as it seeks to put the congressman's name before as many voters as
possible before the Oct. 20 primary. 


spokeswoman for Jindal, R-Kenner, who says he is waging a "war on
incompetence" in government, refused to answer questions about the stickers,
or say whether anyone from the campaign contacted the universities or the
Saints before the stickers were printed. But Melissa Sellers confirmed in an
e-mailed message that the marketing scheme would come to an end, though she
stopped short of saying the campaign would stop distributing the stickers it
has on hand. 
"We are not planning to print any more 'Tigers for Jindal' stickers. We are
all out of Saints ones," Sellers wrote. 
The tempest arose after LSU officials noticed purple-and-gold "Tigers for
Jindal" bumper stickers on vehicles around the capital city. 
"LSU routinely monitors and maintains control over our colors and
trademarks, which is how the issue surfaced," said Michael Ruffner, LSU's
vice chancellor for communications and university relations. 
In Jindal's case, LSU officials were less concerned about a trademark
violation than the perception that a public university was taking sides in
the governor's race. Ruffner said Jindal's campaign quickly agreed to stop
distributing the stickers. 
"They understood our concern that it could be perceived as a political
endorsement, and we do not authorize the use of this," he said. 
Although LSU cannot stop anyone from using the purple-and-gold color
combination, the use of those colors combined with the "Tiger" nickname
creates an "undeniable link" to the university that is unacceptable in a
political campaign, Ruffner said. 


Similarly, Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said no one from the Jindal campaign
checked with the organization before printing "Saints for Jindal" stickers
and said the team did not want to appear to be taking sides in the race. 
"We did not OK those, and, as is part of our standard course of business and
policy, our teams, the Saints and VooDoo, remain neutral in such matters now
and in the future," Bensel said in an e-mailed statement. "The distribution
was voluntarily stopped by the Jindal campaign." 
A Tulane University spokesman said the Jindal campaign, when contacted about
the stickers, blamed them on the Republican Party of Louisiana. Michael
Strecker, the university's public relations director, said any use of the
"Green Wave" name in connection with a political campaign "was done without
our knowledge or consent" and that the responsible parties have been asked
to cease and desist. 

"The campaign informed us they would tell the Republican Party of Louisiana,
the creator of these bumper stickers, to stop printing and distributing
them," Strecker said in an e-mailed message. 
James Quinn, the executive director of the state GOP, said the party would
stop distributing the stickers but denied any role in their creation. 
"The party will no longer distribute bumper stickers other than ones with
the regular 'Bobby Jindal for Governor' logo," Quinn wrote in an e-mail.
"The party does not have the ability to print them at our office, nor have
we ever contacted a vendor to produce them." 


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Somebody somewhere has a receipt for payment by someone for this stuff.