First of all, yes, it’s a slow news day. Which leads us to writing about a company floating a lawsuit after claiming the Cleveland Browns stole the idea and premise of their 2024 schedule release video.
Taking to Twitter yesterday, the Mugsy Jeans company accused the Browns of ripping off the theme of a commercial they made promoting their brand, featuring famous bowler Pete Weber in a bowling alley.
The account compared several shots from their commercial, posted to their YouTube channel in June 2023, to what the Browns aired to announce Cleveland’s 2024 schedule.
Did the @Browns just steal our commercial?! 🧐That’s not very nice. We knew you were bad at football, but you’re bad at marketing too?! Yikes.
In order to settle this, we request the @NFL buys 1 million pairs of Mugsy Jeans.
Your move, @nflcommish. pic.twitter.com/E0OtheWXhH
— Mugsy (@mugsyjeans) May 16, 2024
After initially saying he would not sue if the NFL buys “1 million” pairs of their jeans (unlikely!), Cael Schwartz floated the idea of a lawsuit.
**^ we might sue
— Cael Schwartz (@asap_cael) May 16, 2024
In the video shown above, the clips appear similar. Both featuring Weber is harmless enough, but the Browns filmed at the same location with very similar blocking of certain shots.
Still, there are several key differences. The Browns’ video is 3:45 seconds long and Weber doesn’t appear until the the 2:59 mark. It’s an add-on to the video as opposed to centering their entire video on Weber, as Mugsy Jeans did in its commercial.
Clearly, I am no lawyer, and the odds of the company actually filing suit seem incredibly low, but any sort of legal challenge would probably be quickly dismissed. It’s just a company jumping on the chance to stir the pot and maybe gain some views. We’re writing about it so hey, mission accomplished.
The Score ranked all 32 schedule release videos and praised the Browns’ production, slotting them eighth in the league. The Pittsburgh Steelers came in toward the bottom, 27th, for their fun but simple video featuring current players attempting to make James Harrison laugh with opponent-themed dad jokes.
Still, the Steelers’ version was better than the last-ranked New York Giants’ attempt which didn’t even show the schedule. The top-rated video once again went to the Los Angeles Chargers, whose Sims-themed production contained plenty of excellent Easter Eggs and jabs at each team, including Pittsburgh.
