Godzilla Flattens Alien Invader Colony

These are some of the latest responses. If you haven't already seen them, check out the earlier ones, too.

We can't disclose full contest entries yet, but we can let you see a few [more] of the letters of support we have received. Meanwhile, write letters to or call Geoffrey! Alert Ted Baxter! Write a Congress-critter to protest this & congressional net.censorship! (Maybe we can get on TV when the AP is sent in to wipe us out!)

All opinions expressed belong to their owners. Our opinions about a certain mongo toy chain and its corporate parent are expressed elsewhere!

Remember, you must send the letters to TRU via us, or at least Cc: us on email, if you want to qualify for the contest!

Names will be added after the contest is over.

What You've Been Saying

Some of these have been lightly edited purely for spelling, grammar, or strong language. My comments are emphasized just like this text.

Added to page Dec. 12

I had my own experience with Toys R Us. I was making a student video and wanted to open it by mounting a camera in a shopping cart and moving it quickly down the aisles, shooting all the toys that whipped by. Not only did TRU refuse to allow it, they immediately put up signs saying "no video cameras allowed in store." Are these guys paranoid or are we really following them?

man i think u should have little pictures of that [dratted] giraffe being killed by an axe murderer. Not the stupid TRU giraffe but one that looks just like him. Instead of Geoffrey call him Jethro da Giraffe! Toys R Us (TM) has no case against you at all! (i assume u know that!) Imagine a Company claiming to have rights to werdz like 'US' and 'R' !!! JEEZ they cant even spell correctly what kinda world do we live in where a regular Joe can be sued for using simple werdz like that? Take this thing all the way to the end , man! Sue the [hades] outta them for slander! Sounds to me like they are giving your page a bad name! So isnt that a basis for slander?

anyhoo, i think you are completely in the clear, and should do whatever necessary to [liquid waste] theze folkz OFF!!!! They deserve it! You cant imagine how [urinated] i was when i read about this in the paper this morning... NOW GET IN THERE AND KICK SUM [settin' down parts] FOR DA INTERNET!!!!!!!

I'm planning to shop for the kids at a computer store. My brother said that the Disney CD-Roms were fine with him, so that's what I'm getting the kids. (actually, that's what I was planning on getting them even before I read about your TRU hassle, but now I'm trying to get my brother to boycott TRU this Christmas).

My family and I are not in Toys-R-Us[tm]'s top-40 category; we probably spend about $600.00 to $800.00 per year there. Now that I know about the ugliness of Toys-R-Us[tm]'s attempting to squash perfectly free (in fact, anarchic) speech on the Internet, my wife and I will bring our business elsewhere. I will also speak to people in my community and on the job to try to hit Geoffrey where it hurts (in the checkbook), but of course I can't guarantee participation in the boycott by any other family.

I plan to check in on Roadkills-R-Us[tm] from time to time to see whether Toys-R-Us[tm] is continuing to threaten to sue this non-existent corporation. When the toy store chain comes to its senses, we will gladly add them back to the list of competitive outlets at which we buy toys and other children's products.

I'd appreciate knowing whether Kids-R-Us[tm] is owned by the Toys-R-Us[tm] folks, and if so whether a boycott of these stores is being requested as well.

Well, according to the last person who answered the phone at the Legal Department number, Geoffrey holds the trademarks on a whole mess of them, including Kids-R-Us[tm], and said Legal Department is responsible for ``protecting'' them all, including, I presume, against the various Constitutions of whatever nations happen to be graced with their stores' presences. I will be publishing the list Ms. Fowler so kindly sent at the beginning of all this, so people can have the freedom to boycott whomever they please.

AT THIS POINT IN EDITING THIS FILE, EMAIL MESSAGE #666 ARRIVED. COINCIDENCE? OR A SIGN OF WHO WE'RE REALLY BATTLING HERE? HMMM?

Read about you in the local paper. Good for you. Stick to your guns and good luck.

The most unfortunate thing regarding this entire fiasco is that the letters which were sent to you were so much like form letters, that it demonstrates a history of this behavior. There is no need to generate a form letter unless you want to send the letter multiple times or to multiple people. The fact that they have a form letter telling you to change your stationery, your signs, etc., implies that they have bullied people in the past.

The saddest part? They probably have been successful. People have seen this big corporate lawyer information and buckled thinking that they have a large legal engine to bring to bear, and it is not worth fighting. Miles, keep on fighting. This is a completely ridiculous situation.

It is obvious that the corporate lawyers have either not read, or chosen to ignore, your comments. Unfortunately, this probably is reflective of our litigious society, exploding mostly during the past century. They refuse to acknowledge your letters because you are not a fellow lawyer. They will force you to retain a lawyer, to help someone else out by getting legal fees to say the same things that you are saying. Yes, this is a myopic and negative view of our legal system, but it has, unfortunately, been proven to be accurate all too often. The term "ambulance chasers" has been a typical derogatory remark about lawyers in our society. It did not come about in a vacuum.

I have never, personally, done any shopping at a Toys "R" Us facility, so mentioning that I am now boycotting it will not impact their bottom line one iota. However, saying that I will forward your WEB URL to make others aware *will* have some impact. I will urge all of my associates to stay as far away as is humanly possible, from a company whose sole purpose in life is to litigate a completely harmless non-entity as Roadkills-R-Us.

Keep the faith, and should TRU make the mistake of attempting to take this further, count me among your steadfast $upporter$, for legal fees and the like.

My mom said she read about the boycott in the Dallas paper yesterday morning. She has agreed to boycott (and she's got grandkids).

This whole thing is absurd. No, not absurd. If I knew of a single word to describe the concept "ultimate absurdity of the universe", I'd use it. It's also asinine, and a clear indication to me that there are WAY too many lawyers in this country with nothing better to do than harass and bully people.

"Roadkills R Us" is a _PERFECT_ name - since you've been "run over" by an out-of-control legal department. Sorry, that's the best I can come up with this early in the morning. I haven't had my coffee yet.

Well, I agree. It's worked great for years now.

Well, it is hard to believe that Toys-R-Us[tm] would have such a lack of a sense of humor.

I would be more than happy to join in boycotting such a humorless company. Only a corporate executive would be dumb enough to think that anyone with half a brain would take Roadkills-R-Us seriously.

..but I guess that at least one person with half a brain (a TRU executive, no doubt) *did* take RRU seriously. ;-}

Good Luck in your fight against those big corporate bullies. May their Giraffe sprain it's neck. ;-}

Hang in there, dude! Let's start at least 6-7000 new web pages, all a variant of the R issue, and see if they have enough lawyers to go around. Maybe if they each had 10-15 potential suits, rather than one for all of them, they'd see how stupid the whole thing is... :-)

Dear Sir or Madam:

I had heard that giraffes have very small brains, and your tactics toward Roadkills-R-Us have convinced me. You will see no more of my dollars (one child, 11 nieces and nephews) until you cease this pathetic display of thuggery.

I have also sold my shares of your company (sale date Dec. 4--check your shareholder records). I am no Bill Gates, or even J. Paul Getty, so my actions will cause no shaking in the Bullies-R-Us boardroom. But I am hoping that thousands of little nobodies like me make a sizable dent in your bottom line.

Happy holidays,
John Persons

Obviously this one needed a name now, so TRU can check records.

Obviously TRU has absolutely no concept of the Internet as well as the fact that they lack any common sense. A moron could figure out that you are not a business after reading your letters. I never liked TRU much anyways, but they had a game my little sister wanted so I was planning to go get it. There was a TRU coupon for it. Well I just called my Wal Mart and they have it and will take my coupon so I am going to stop by TRU tonite let them know I am boycotting and then head over to Wal-Mart. Good luck and keep the name. I love it.

A listserv friend gave your URL, which was why I accessed it this morning. I returned from reading about your battle,and updated the message back to the listserv, suggesting that folks provide some support through filling out the form. Then I decided that it might help a bit if I linked to your page from mine, since a growing number of friends do occasionally check it out. Anyway, maybe both those things will generate a little traffic to you...

I have sent protests to Geoffrey via his webpage comments form, and am putting a message out on my web site with letter-writing suggestions (http://www.tipton.com/)...
Live Free or Die!

Feel free to tell Toys R Us(tm) that I am boycotting them as well and encouraging all of my other toy buying friends to not use their stores.

I work with roughly 100 "computer geeks". We collect everything from Nerf Weaponry to Sega Saturns to Slinkys. We're pretty much grown up kids and we shop a *lot*. Lord knows if any of us ever reproduces we'll have another toy junkie on our hands.

Regardless, I am sending out e-mail to all of my coworkers pointing them to this URL so that they can see how ludicrous TRU(tm) is being. I will also most *definitely* urge them not to spend their hundreds or thousands of hard-earned dollars on a company that practices such bullish tactics.

For the record, we live in Northern Virginia. The main TRU(tm) here is near Fair Oaks. There are many alternatives to TRU(tm) and thanks to their bizarre ignorance, I will expend every ounce of effort I can into making sure that we:

Choose a more respectable toy provider for *all* future purchases (Not hard as there is a Best Buys nearby for our electronics and a Wal-Mart for other toys)
Return all purchased Christmas gifts back to TRU(tm) for a full refund. An explanation why may or may not be given. I am more interested in getting the money out of the hands of TRU(tm) and into the hands of a decent toy store.

I will also be calling my relatives in Georgia, Florida and California and directing them to this URL. I've even printed out the juicy bits to fax to those without Internet access.

[name]
Fairfax, VA
(That's zip code 22031 for all of your annoying cashiers who insist on knowing that before they ring up my purchases.)

Actually, I like one of the TRU suggestions, "Roadkills Trust". It's quite obvious that they do trust (although their trust was obviously misplaced :-) and perhaps you could use it to get a few dollars out of the savings and loan mess.

I'm sorry I don't buy toys, as I would love to join the boycott.

I read in the Houston Chronicle about the harassment by TRU. I sent to their Web page and sent a message to LIGHTEN UP, that toys are about FUN and they are taking themselves way too seriously, and if they go through with a lawsuit against you, I will NEVER make another purchase at TRU and will influence everyone I can to follow suit.

Hang in there. I haven't explored your site and don't know if I will even like it - but I sure as heck approve of your RIGHT to have it. I do like Mad Magazine and other clever spoofs so maybe I'll check out your stuff...

The following letter was pasted into the comments section of Toys R Us "Mind Meld"(I think they stole that name from Spock on Star Trek). I gave them my full name, email address and snail mail address--I'll let you know if I get any response.

Marketing Department:

Welcome to the Internet, you appear to have put considerable work into your site! Unfortunately your legal department has destroyed all of the good will you would have received from the Internet community.

All the employees in my office have been following the inept actions of your attorney for several weeks and we all thought it was quiet humorous until now. Whether or not you have a legal right (and I personally don't think you do in this case) to stop the "Road-Kills-R-Us" web site from using "R-Us" in their name is no longer important; your attorney's attempt to have net service disconnected from Road-Kills-R-Us went "over the edge". I suggest that you watch the bulletin boards and TV news to see just how sensitive the community is to censorship of any kind.

I have addressed this memo to the marketing department because it is obvious the the legal department wouldn't understand it. If this approach to the Internet is your strategy of future development, then might I suggest you have a greeter at each store entrance telling each mother who enters how ugly and unintelligent her child appears. I think your results will be about the same as your Internet entrance.

This will be the first Christmas in several years that I haven't spend more money than I should have at your one of your stores. No, I'm not part of an organized boycott. I, and most of my employees just wouldn't feel right about entering your store after seeing what you have done. Forget what you may or may not have a legal right to, 100% of the people that I have spoken to believe your company is morally wrong in this case.

After reading over all of the evidence in this affair, and then having a good laugh...I still can't figure out why TRU is neglecting the fact that you are not operating any sort of company here. What if Mad Magazine ran a Roadkills-r-us thing in their publication? Surely, they would not get sued...well, they might, but at least the lawyers at TRU would have a good fight on their hands with a company with as much financial backing. Are you earning any sort of profit off of this? Besides a little publicity that TRU caused in the first place, this has basically earned you zero dollars. However, I would recommend disclaimers for the idiots that can't tell that your page is in no way related to TRU...other than that, I found your site very amusing and believe it should stay on the Web with its current name.

Thanks. No, in fact it costs me to keep this site. It's a labor of love, so I don't mind. But make money? NOT!

Bravo for all the brave souls who are not going to be taking any more [stuff] from a huge corporation that has, in its growth, taken over all kinds of business from small enterprise. I too am going to boycott TRU for their truly frivolous litigation against Roadkills R US. Let them get a [British expletive] sense of humor. Target or Walmart will be getting my hard earned dollars. As for that "pinche" giraffe...shouldn't he and his cross dressing family be released to the wild, or something?

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Last updated: 25 October 2001

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Copyright 1995-2001 Roadkills-R-Us, Austin, TX. All rights preserved, jellied, or jammed. All giraffe images based on an image courtesy of Philip Greenspun. Gratefully used with permission. Roadkills-R-Us and RRU are trademarks of Miles O'Neal <meo@rru.com>. Web space provided by Net Ads.