Bebo founder Michael Birch just sent Airbnb what seems to be a hilarious tongue-in-cheek cease and desist letter, citing the “phallic nature” of the new Airbnb logo.
Airbnb’s new logo has been a sort of Rorschach test for all of Silicon Valley, as it has been referred to as both the male and female genitals. To add to the hilarity, Birch sent out a tweet this afternoon that calls out Airbnb for infringing on his “Genital Marketing(TM)” IP.
Bebo had announced nearly a year ago on Youtube that it was launching a new whiteboard feature that Birch called, “The single biggest repository for illustrated cock and balls ever recorded.”
Birch’s letter to Airbnb contests that, “…the visual representation of genitals has become an iconic, strong, firmly associated image with the Bebo brand worldwide.”
“Given that Bebo has hung its hat on the tip of Genital Marketing(TM), we firmly request that you discontinue the use of the ‘Bélo’ logo immediately. The phallic nature of the AirBnB logo has the potential to confuse, conflate, and deceive the general public.”
“How did they manage to get all genitalia into one doodle?” Birch asked me over the phone. “I let it slide when Dre put our logo on his headphones. But this has reached a climax. We simply can’t be dicked around like this.”
We reached out to Airbnb for comment and are waiting to hear back. In the meantime, here’s Birch’s letter to Airbnb, in full:
Bebo Cease and Desist to Airbnb