Tayto manufacturers, F.R. Kelly, are particularly piqued that he’s described in the cover insert as wearing “a malevolent mushroom grin.”
In a letter to Toasted Heretic mainman Julian Gough, their patent lawyers say: “Your depiction tarnishes our client’s family or wholesome image and dilutes the distinctiveness of their trademarks. The lyrics of your songs are adult in nature and could be very disturbing to a child or adult who may assume that your album and website is sponsored by, or is otherwise associated (with Tayto).”
Toasted Heretic’s misappropriation of Tayto Man dates back to 1988 when the little fella graced their Songs For Swinging Celibates album. They’ve used it on and off since, but until now with no legal repercussions.
“This has all happened since Tayto were bought by the Cantrell & Cochrane Group,” Gough proffers. “When Tayto was a family-owned company they understood that we loved them and were paying them a compliment. C&C Group don’t seem to understand Tayto or Toasted Heretic. They closed the Tayto factory in Coolock last year with the loss of a hundred jobs, they outsourced Tayto production to the company who make Hunky Dorys and Perri Crisps, and now they’re attacking us, Tayto’s biggest fans. It’s incredibly silly of them, but that’s corporations for you. They buy this great brand and then they wreck it.”
As for the fate awaiting those recalled copies of …Nostalgia Flavour, Gough concludes that: “The Church used to ban books and attack pop music. Now it’s the corporations who are demanding album burnings. If we have to we will, but do C&C Group really want to be responsible for Europe’s first public album burning of the new millennium?”