In a bizarre — yet oddly on-brand — legal showdown, gas-station mega-giant Buc-ee’s has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Nut Huggers underwear. Yes, you read that correctly.
According to the complaint, Buc-ee’s alleges that the small Oklahoma-based underwear company is cashing in on its famous beaver logo by using a look-alike mascot to sell its products.
Nut Huggers’ branding features a cartoon squirrel that, at first glance, does resemble Buc-ee’s well-known character — with one notable difference. Instead of smiling in a red hat, this squirrel is holding two acorns. The implication there requires no explanation.
While the case is no laughing matter in the courtroom, the internet has wasted no time weighing in on the showdown between a beloved Texas convenience-store empire and a tiny underwear startup with a cheeky sense of humor.
Buc-ee’s Nuthuggers Lawsuit
Nut Huggers owner Jarrad Hewett tells KFOR-TV that his small Oklahoma underwear company has been in business for about three years, and he insists the logo is entirely his own creation — a tongue-in-cheek illustration meant to fit the brand’s playful vibe.
Hewett says business was finally starting to pick up when he received a three-page letter from Buc-ee’s legal team, which he describes as “hot and dramatic,” demanding he immediately stop using the squirrel logo.
“They suggested that they owned all cartoon rodents,” Hewett told the station. That didn’t sit well with him. Rather than back down, he says he plans to stand his ground and fight for what he believes is rightfully his.
To illustrate just how forceful the letter was, Hewett shared some of the language Buc-ee’s attorneys used.
“Nut Huggers is presently using a cartoon brown rodent character, smiling with buck teeth, in various depictions,” wrote Trent Menning, assistant general counsel for Buc-ee’s.
According to Hewett, the letter went even further — demanding that his company stop using cartoon animals altogether, avoid the colors red, yellow and brown, stop putting images in baseball caps, and only use front-facing artwork.
Hewett says that was the moment he dug in. “I think it’s time somebody stands up and says, ‘This isn’t right.’ There’s no infringement here. You don’t have the right to do this and take away people’s local livelihoods.”
Hewett says he tried to meet Buc-ee’s halfway. He wrote back agreeing to remove the specific colors they objected to and to change the squirrel’s side profile. But according to him, Buc-ee’s wasn’t satisfied.
“They came back and basically said, ‘Great, now that you’ve given us this, we want everything else,’” Hewett recalls.
That response is what pushed Hewett to take the fight to court. He and the Nut Huggers brand now plan to see the case through to the end.
Which squirrel gets the nut in this battle? Only time will tell.
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Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes