Pabst Blue Ribbon is not happy with the WWE.
The WWE teased a new t-shirt for John Cena when he returns on Instagram Friday. The shirt is clearly paying homage to the beer: Pabst Blue Ribbon. If you are an avid beer drinker you probably already noticed the similarity right away. PBR is a brand that is pretty well known and their logo is fairly recognizable. Here is the shirt the WWE teased:
PBR responded by making a couple wrestling jokes and saying they are slapping WWE with a cease & desist over the shirt. Here was their tweet, even showing Cena wearing a Pabst Blue Ribbon shirt:
A message to @JohnCena & the @WWE: We have a chokehold called the Cease & Desist. Pretty sure we see you? pic.twitter.com/AKWjUEXiUj
— Pabst Blue Ribbon (@PabstBlueRibbon) May 27, 2016
On one hand I can understand them trying to defend their property like that. On the other hand, it is completely free advertising for their brand. This is John Cena were talking about here and that shirt is going to sell a ton. When people over the age of 18 (like me at least) see the shirt they are going to think of PBR. I think this would actually help them sell a lot more beers and get their products out there even more. I could be wrong but it seems like this is a big marketing opportunity for them. They also probably have a legit claim but I don’t know many details regarding that.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below! Did you recognize the similarity right away?