Certainly they could do that, unless their settlement with Chile Colonial forbids them from licensing the trademark to others.
I wonder if that agreement allows them to simply not defend the trademark, given that Hojel seemed so determined to keep it. Maybe it didn’t occur to her lawyers that anybody would do such a thing.
Not sure where or why you think I have some personal hate campaign going on. Certainly not a fan.
That being said, I am merely giving a perspective from a different area of looking at said events. While yours tend to lean towards all things legal, I see things from a brand marketing perspective specific to entertainment. That brand being of Momofuku and separately Majordomo Media and David Chang. David Chang has the most media visibility and he is noted and named as a director along with other directors of Momo Orchards Holdings. Public figures encounter both positive and negative publicity and as such are obliged to manage that.
If you want an echo chamber of just your viewpoint on how an event should be observed and dissected, you’re not expecting people to actually think. I am not here to incite some Asian mob or boycott especially since most don’t purchase Momofuku products to begin with.
What this problem is/was points to a disconnect of culturally significant heritage foodways and terminology, and how things ought to be managed going forward given that rightly or wrongly the trademark was given recognition and it now exists.
This trademark legal business went on for years with no pubic relations impact, and when shit hit the fan it was thrown by competitors with millions in funding posing as the voice of the scrappy little gal.
It’s unfortunate no one at Momofuku saw this coming but it’s not normal for corporations to have their PR departments micro-manage their lawyers.
Alternative to Spotify:
This episode is only 20 minutes.
They mentioned something along the lines of not wanting to the arbiter of who gets to use it/who doesn’t get to use it. I can see how it might become a Groundhog Day scenario if they said “no” to the “wrong” brand, especially if that brand complained online. And apparently you have to maintain some amount of quality control over every licensee, if my understanding is correct (no idea if it is).
If they don’t defend it, from what they said in the podcast (which might be wrong), some big company could get the trademark, and Chile Colonial, Momofuku, and all the little companies might all have to stop using it.
The should license it for a nominal fee to companies with, say, less than than $1 million annual revenues and less than $1 million capital investment.
How about the crazy amount of blowback after the cease and desist order over chili crisp huh? So so many first hand accounts of horrendous treatment of staff from Chang popping up online, that is just hard to ignore. Sounds an absolute wank-stain. Certainly backs up the off-putting vibes an avid listener of his podcasts has picked up on… Incessant bullying and insulting on airwaves, which is telling of how bad things are in non broadcast settings. Curious how far this will go.
I don’t personally care a ton about the trademark fiasco. That is up to the authorities and the impressive foodie lawyers to decide. But it brought out a lot of former staff from hiding. My friend and his wife work NY restaurants for years and they know so many people in the industry who all can’t stand the dude. Wonder if that’s why he bounced for LA.
Here are a bunch of stories
thanks for moving my post… i tried searching but wasn’t good with it.
I think the stories about Chang being an old-school screamer abusive chef are all old, since he stopped cooking and started focusing on product development and media over five years ago. I think maybe he got out of the kitchen in part because he recognized that he doesn’t have the right personality to make it the kind of sustainable work environment he wants to promote.
He’s been pretty open about having been a horrible chef to work for. He talked about that with the Joe Beef guys on his podcast.
Folks in the reddit link claiming she didn’t invent that, though she did popularize it. She’s accused of taking recipes a lot and telling staff she owns their recipes too
https://www.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/1c3l66u/working_for_david_chang/kzk2613/
Yes, i’ve never missed an episode of the podcasts because i devour anything food related… i’ve heard it… and he has many time expressed his work to get over his past… but more and more i dont think he has actually dealt with his rage… or if it’s even possible… . he just stays the hell out of his restaurants now… yet his nastiness is persistent in the podcast… it’s frequently abusive and gets tiresome. but whatever… many of the conversations are interesting. hope Ying can keep laughing it all off. i’m not into cancelling or anything like that… just been trying to ignore how much people used to hate him while being a fan for years and it’s soured now with so many public accounts
I believe Tosi came up with the original cereal milk dessert at Momofuku before there was anyone else in that department for her to cop recipes from.
I personally know multiple people here in LA who’ve worked with Chang professionally in media in the last five years, and they all report that he’s been nightmarish to deal with: nasty, rude, vindictive, abusive, pick your adjective. I don’t think this is something he left behind when he got out of the kitchen.
If so he sure keeps a lid on it when he’s on camera.
I have no idea about this case, but gossip’s often false and even vicious.
Sure, but this isn’t gossip. This is first-hand accounts from crew I know on his various Netflix ventures (camera operators, sound mixers, H&MU, producers) who have no reason to lie. I suggest you take a tour through that Reddit thread for just the tip of the iceberg.
Your first-person report is my hearsay from an anonymous person on the Internet.
I can’t be bothered to read gossip in part because I wouldn’t care if it were true. Lots of my favorite artists and other creative types were or are reportedly assholes in real life. If true, sad for their friends and associates, but I know them only through their work.