I only about whole issue from the 2 FTCs about this, so I know nothing… but I think you’re being quite generous with this interpretation.
Thank you. Would only Gao express the common sense that you have (but apparently have much training in)…
I wasn’t buying Fly by Jing before reading all this stuff, and I def won’t be touching herself now…
Don’t worry you ain’t missing out on much.
Why are insisting that @coffeezeri rewriting the news to fit narratives? @coffeezeri is just stating an opinion that as the face of a media and food empire brand, regardless of whether there’s a board and bunch a suits behind these actions, he should be out in front of. That’s an opinion I and I’m sure many on this board would love to see DC do.
If anything you’re the one writing the narrative that he knows jackshit about trademarks (which based on his history of applying for ssam sauce, hozon, bonji, chile crunch clearly not true ) and too busy and has media and family to run.
Jing Gao is also a brand new mother and just had a baby, she has sua supperette and countless other obligations too, but as you pointed out, hasn’t missed any opportunity to put her spin on things and put FBJ in a more positive light.
Momofuku applied for trademarks. What makes you think Chang had anything to do with that process beyond coming up with some of the names?
If the company was really good at that stuff they would have trademarked Chili Crunch before rolling out the brand nationally. Wherher the application was approved or rejected they would have been safe from infringing Chile Colonial’s trademark.
Jing Gao is still the CEO of her company. Marguerite Mariscal has been CEO of Momofuku since 2019.
This episode was actually pretty cool and Dave talks a bit about his thoughts regarding trademarks. Not saying there’s any 1:1 comparisons for this “crunch” situation or that it’s some amazing discussion
Starts at 10:25
I am jealous of your sanity. As someone who is probably retiring from social media soon… don’t go on Instagram and TikTok lol. It is an absolute cesspool of bad legal takes, misinformed opinions and bots on this issue. I came here to try to clear things up with my two cents because people on this board actually take the time to read things and think about things beyond knee-jerk reactions, which I greatly appreciate.
I find people’s insistence that Chang say something to be par the course (it’s great theater, after all), but in a way I see it as taking the high road. I don’t think there’s anything he can say to please people who are going to dogpile on him anyway, so it might be in his best interest to just ignore the whole thing until it blows over. I don’t see this attitude of not giving the guy a chance on here, but prevalently (pervasively) on social media, where it seems the entire world is rallying around tearing this guy down.
I’ve been chewing on that theory that the Momofuku restaurants intentionally make “inauthentic” Asian food because they want you to try the real thing and don’t want to compete against them. I listened to that podcast with Eddie Huang and Chang is trying to distinguish his product from Lao Gan Ma from the beginning. For someone who’s being accused of competing with Lao Gan Ma, he’s really going out of his way to give them airtime and distinguish his product from them. If anything, it sounds like he wants you to buy both Lao Gan Ma and the Momofuku Chili Crunch 
that greedy bastard
The latter episode about food IP was definitely more cringey and just full of inaccuracies on how the system works, though I think one of the co-hosts tried their best to explain things. He did make an interesting point about recipes, which cannot be copyrighted, and as such the thing cooks and chefs work on back of house and spend so much time perfecting has very little protection from outright copying. It might explain Momofuku’s tendency to trademark things.
Anyway, I think Chang’s right to avoid the media right now, especially if he cares about his mental health. For his sake and anyone who ever finds themselves in this type of situation, I hope they are able to unplug, withdraw and spend time with the people they care about. The internet is a wonderful place, but the people can really make it unhealthy. But not you guys! You guys are great. 
Chang has plenty to keep him busy without getting into social media mud wrestling (an hour of live TV a week is a LOT), plus he has Chris Ying to handle that.
An all-star save. And on your first day at FTC, no less!
Hojel speaks:
More competent reporting:
The battle over chili crunch is a David vs. Goliath story. But it’s also a Goliath vs. Goliath story. David Chang’s Momofuku Goods, which has created controversy this week after sending cease-and-desist letters to other companies that call their product “chili crunch” or “chile crunch,” is a growing business that generated $50 million in sales and secured a $17.5 million Series A round of funding in 2023. (Yes, in this case, if you want to get technical, David is Goliath.)
But Momofuku is up against formidable contenders like Jen Liao and Caleb Wang’s MìLà (formerly known as XCJ), which closed a $22.5 million Series A round of funding and tapped actor Simu Liu as its chief content officer last year. There’s also, of course, popular mala-over-everything chili crisp brand Fly By Jing, which got its $12 million Series B funding in 2023.
I changed the title of this topic since the “trademark bully” slur was by a lawyer presumably being paid by some of Jing’s VC money.
Just want to say I didn’t post the episode because I thought there was any legal merit to the discussion. I posted it more relating to your second sentence
Oh definitely, it’s valuable insight into what might drive his thinking about IP. I’m sure if they had an actual IP lawyer on the episode would have been about 500 times more boring
Hey I’m being honest! I never thought such a long post like the one I put together would be so well received, our kind tend to drone on and on… You all have some great attention spans! Very grateful for the audience and the kind comments from everyone.
If you swear off social media I hope you make an exception for FTC. Any antisocial bullshit, just flag it.
You can write your narrative and disassociate (absolve) DC from Momofuku corporate dealings to your hearts content, but I don’t think that’s Marguerite Mariscal’s mug next to Momofuku headlines in these and countless other articles.
@foodielawyer i agree, it’s great theatre, everyone has an opinion, and America loves to tear down someone like DC. Honestly wish Anthony bourdain was still alive to see this and wonder what his take would be.
Chang’s the founder and thus figurehead of Momofuku, sure, but he’s clearly not involved in day-to-day operations outside of the media division. When the company got the C&D from Chile Colonial, I’m certain the lawyers and accountants were running the show, given Hojel’s description of “a huge company with a stable of lawyers.”
I remove inappropriate posts. Sometimes my own.
stunning information. “auto-purchases”… fffffff i had no chance.
do people even actually care if the product is called chili crunch or chili crisp or chili whatever?
i felt like jenn harris had the most cogent take that no company owns ‘ketchup’ or ‘mustard’ and likewise when i see any version of chili crisp, the ‘brand’ is the company name, not their descriptor of the product.
