# Calvin and the Ford logo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2000, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375 "2000-04-14T13:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Distwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@Distwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Distwalker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/1 "2000-04-14T13:45:00Z")
It seems like as often as not when I pull up behind a pickup truck, there is a decal of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes urinating on the logo of Ford, Chevrolet or some other auto maker. I’m pretty sure from what I’ve read about the private and protective Calvin and Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson, that he would not allow the copywrited image of Calvin to be used this way. I’m even more sure that Ford Motor Company and the others did not approve the use of their logos for this treatment. At first a figured it was a local bootleg thing, but now I see it everywhere. What gives? Why doesn’t Watterson or the auto makers in question shut down the sale of these decals? Rob ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/2 "2000-04-14T13:49:00Z")
I asked the same question in this thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/005809.html) I believe the upshot was that Waterson, being a very private person, does not choose to prosecute. The use of Calvin is not with permission. Tinker ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/3 "2000-04-14T14:08:00Z")
As far as the Calvin peeing on a Chevy or Ford logo it has been applied elsewhere. In this case probably more of a bootleg situation but I own a shirt that shows Calvin wearing a Packer helmet peeing on a Dallas Cowboy Star. This of course from the era in the early 90’s when the Cowboys owned the Packers. Needless to say this shirt was not purchased at the Packer Pro Shop… ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/4 "2000-04-14T15:05:00Z")
First, he would have to prove in court that it is definitely Calvin. Yes, I’m serious. * * * “They’re coming to take me away ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time… :)” - Napoleon IV ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/5 "2000-04-14T15:19:00Z")
I have a folder in my file cabinet, from back in the olden days when humorous cartoons and texts were photocopied and passed around. Most of the items in it look like they’re hundredth-generation copies. One of them is a cartoon of a guy standing on a desk, urinating on a computer monitor, with the caption “Computer Whiz”. Why I chose to save this, I don’t know. The cartoon is signed by a John Lamb, and copyrighted 1984. I probably got this before 1986 or so. I always had the impression that this cartoon evolved into the Calvin-urinating-on-rival-brand-of-pickup-truck thing. I don’t have any data to show a link, but someone could have taken this idea, and since they didn’t use computers, substituted a Ford or Chevy logo, and then someone else could have drawn it with the character being Calvin, who was becoming popular in the late 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/6 "2000-04-15T05:32:00Z")
## I’ve seen two interesting versions of this gag. In the first, a large-size Calvin decal is whizzing on a smaller one, who’s whizzing on a Bill-the-Cat. In the other, one Calvin is inverted under the other, and they’re whizzing on each other in an Escher-like effect. AskNott "Measure twice, cut once. Dang! Measure again, cut again. ---
**Author:** ![Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b5e925/32.png) [@Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/7 "2000-04-14T18:09:00Z")
My favorite version of the Calvin decal shows Calvin wearing a sombrero, and he’s peeing on “La Migra.” (The “Migra” is the INS, which is feared, and hated by the huge illegal allien populations of the Southwest) I’ve seen a LOT of those stickers…pretty gutsy if you ask me. * * * Not a newbie…formerly ARG220 ---
**Author:** ![Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b5e925/32.png) [@Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/8 "2000-04-14T18:15:00Z")
Shoot. There I go running my mouth off again. That last post had some exaggeration in it. While Immigration is hated and feared by many, it may not be the general attitude of all immigrants in this country. Obviously those who display the decal of Calvin have made up their minds. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/9 "2000-04-14T18:32:00Z")
What surprised me the most was seeing a tie for sale, with the design being Calvin and Hobbes shooting a monster under the bed. This was being sold from a cart in an upscale shopping mall. Don’t shopping malls verify that illegal wares aren’t sold by the vendors? ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/10 "2000-04-14T18:54:00Z")
I think [this](http://www.theonion.com/onion3612/peeing_calvin.html) will answer all the questions you have. [chuckle] ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2000, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/11 "2000-04-14T18:59:00Z")
I think [this](http://www.theonion.com/onion3612/peeing_calvin.html) will answer all the questions you have. [chuckle] ---
**Author:** ![billehunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@billehunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billehunt)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/12 "2000-04-15T00:14:00Z")
Re: the OP Probably the actual decals are made by some guy in his garage, and sold through underground distributers like swap meets. The reason stuff like this isn’t prosecuted is that it’s difficult to track down the actual manufacturer of the illicit goods. And in this case, if you did find the maker, there probably isn’t a lot of money to be made suing him. ---
**Author:** ![Louie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/13 "2000-04-15T03:57:00Z")
[Bill Watterson’s thoughts on licensing](http://www.okidoki.nl/calvin_and_hobbes/license.htm) > [@](#): > > I had no legal recourse to stop the sundicate from licensing. The syndicate preferred to have my cooperation, but my approval was by no means necessary. Our arguments with each other grew more bitter as the stakes got higher, and we had an ugly relationship for several years. > > The debate had its ridiculous aspects. I am probably the only cartoonist who resented the popularity of his own strip. Most cartoonists are more than eager for the exposure, wealth, and prestige that licensing offers. When cartoonists fight their syndicates, it’s usually to make more money, not less. And making the whole issue even more absurd, when I didn’t license, bootleg ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ merchandise sprung up to feed the demand. Mall stores openly sold T-shirts with drawings illegally lifted from my books, and obscene or drug-related shirts were rife on college campuses. Only thieves and vandals have made money on ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ merchandise. > > … > > By the strip’s fifth year, the debate had gone as far as it could possibly go, and I prepared to quit. If I could not control what ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ stood for, the strip was worthless to me. My contract was so one-sided that quitting would have allowed Universal to replace me with hired writers and artists and license my creation anyway, but at this point, the syndicate agreed to renegotiate my contract. The exploitation rights to the strip were returned to me, and I will not license ‘Calvin and Hobbes’. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calvin-and-the-ford-logo/10375/14 "2000-04-15T03:59:00Z")
This is a bit off topic, but I once saw a sign that Charles Schultz sued over. It was on the front window of a maternity clothing store and showed Lucy VanPelt looking about 9 months pregnant. Horrifying… * * * A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he’s pissed.