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Like the third best bar & grill in your neighborhood, basketball superstar LeBron James really loves the concept of “taco Tuesday” — and now he wants to trademark the phrase and potentially use it to build a whole lifestyle and/or media brand.
You already know what today is..... Yup you guessed it. TUEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSDAY
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 30, 2019
According to paperwork filed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, LeBron’s vision for taco Tuesday involves ”podcasting services” as well as “online entertainment services, namely, providing a website featuring non-downloadable videos, and social media posts in the field of sports, entertainment, current events and popular culture.” The application also lists the potential for “blogging” and “advertising and marketing services provided by means of indirect methods of marketing communications.” LeBron has been spreading the taco Tuesday gospel on social media lately, but an unnamed source tells ESPN that the basketball star and his team don’t have any hard plans to use the phrase and are just keeping their options open.
LeBron is still celebrating #TacoTuesday
— ESPN (@espn) August 27, 2019
(via @KingJames) pic.twitter.com/BcRHVY22uU
The Lakers star is not the first entrepreneur to try to capitalize on this phrase: There are currently 29 trademark applications related to “taco Tuesday” on file. And if LeBron wants to claim ownership of the taco Tuesday mantle, he might have to tussle with Taco John’s, a Wyoming-based chain that claimed the trademark 30 years ago, and has sent hundreds of case-and-desist letters to restaurants and other business who have tried to use it in the past.
Will LeBron James disrupt the food media landscape by launching a podcasting/video platform devoted to once-a-week taco consumption? Stranger things have happened, and he certainly wouldn’t be the first NBA legend to launch a food brand. For what it’s worth, the taco Tuesday network also sounds slightly more plausible than the long-gestating Space Jam sequel.
Stay tuned for any and all updates on LeBron’s plans for taco Tuesday world domination as they become available.
• LeBron files to trademark term ‘Taco Tuesday’ [ESPN]
• Your Community Taco Tuesday Could Come With a Cease-and-Desist From Taco John’s [E]
