ExxonMobil isn’t laughing over FX’s new comedy-centric offshoot network FXX. Or at least it doesn’t find the network’s logo very humorous.
The oil giant has slapped FX Networks with a lawsuit seeking to block the use of the network’s logo, claiming that the brand infringes on Exxon’s own logo because it uses two interlocking X’s, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap .
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FXX, which carries comedies “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Totally Biased With W. Kamau Bell,” launched in September. According to the complaint, ExxonMobil had previously requested that FX change its logo, to no avail.
“ExxonMobil has invested many millions of dollars for more than four decades in advertising and promoting” its logo, the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Houston, reads.
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FX has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment, but an FX Networks spokeswoman told Ad Age that consumer confusion between the two brands is “unfathomable.”
“We are confident that viewers won’t tune into FXX looking for gas or motor oil and drivers won’t pull up to an Exxon pump station expecting to get ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’” the spokeswoman said.
Time will tell if the network is exxonerated in the legal skirmish.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.