Welcome to the Thursday edition of Internet Insider, where we explore identities online and off. Today:
- TikToker says Nike is trying to sue her over small business name
- Teen ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant says she was cyberbullied, stalked in viral TikTok
- Self-care: The big clean
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BREAK THE INTERNET
‘Just succ it’: TikToker says Nike is trying to sue her over small business name
Andrea Galbreath, the owner of a California-based succulent business, says Nike is opposing the trademark she owns for her company, JustSuccIt. The shoe and athletic wear giant said it opposes her trademark because JustSuccIt could be “damaging to their brand,” according to a viral TikTok posted by Galbreath on Saturday.
“Nike is coming after me!” she says in the TikTok. “I’m just a small business in San Juan Capistrano, trying to plant happiness in the lives of others. So I’m doing my best to get ahead of this. Can you please help me tell Nike to leave me alone?”
In a phone interview with the Daily Dot, Galbreath said that her trademark for JustSuccIt was published on Jan. 4. She was notified of Nike’s opposition to her trademark on Jan. 18. (Galbreath started JustSuccIt in 2020.)
“Nobody’s gonna get online to order shoes and then accidentally order a succulent arrangement from me,” Galbreath says in her second TikTok about the trademark opposition.
Nike has triumphed over a handful of small businesses in recent years that have used plays on “just do it” in their marketing. Nike successfully opposed the trademarks for the slogans “Just Believe It” and “Just Drew It.” In April 2020, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board officially recognized that “just do it” is a “famous trademark.”
Galbreath is fearful of going up against a multi-million dollar corporation. When she first found out about the trademark opposition, she turned to social media as a resource for help.
“How does a small business protect itself from large corporations?” she said to the Daily Dot. “I really understand that Nike is doing what Nike does to protect their brand. And I have the right to do that myself, too.”
Read the whole story here.
–Tricia Crimmins, contributing writer
VIRAL HIGHLIGHT
‘I thought my trolls were bad’: Teen ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant says she was cyberbullied, stalked in viral TikTok
Former Jeopardy! Teen Tournament contestant Claire Sattler (@clairesat) shared a glimpse of the “traumatic” aftermath of her 2018 win in a viral TikTok.
In the video, Sattler uses audio from “Pompeii” by Bastille edited to repeat the line “emotional damage.” She shares screenshots of an alleged stalker following her on Google+, a now-defunct social media platform, and photos from when she was a contestant with text explaining how she was cyberbullied.
Sattler wrote that she was “accused of having sex with a 79-year-old man, as a 16-year-old, for the answers,” referring to false allegations by cyberbullies that there was inappropriate conduct between her and the late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.
The video was posted on Jan. 6 and by Wednesday garnered over 188,000 views, with several former game show contestants commiserating in the comments.
“I was on Kids’ Jeopardy! and they really tried to sexualize me and diagnose me at age 11,” 2011 contestant Aria Gerson (@not_like_stark) wrote. “Really not ok. I’m sorry all this happened.”
Other Jeopardy! fans showed their support for Sattler in the comments of the video.
“My friend was on the show as a kid. His experience was different, likely because he is male,” user @cosmicdoll said. “People really go after teen girls for petty shit.”
Read the whole story here.
–Rebekah Harding, reporting intern
SELF-CARE
The big clean
I recently learned that in Japan, the days leading up to Christmas and New Year’s are customarily a time for deep cleaning, a practice called o-suiji. In the U.S., we do our big clean (or at least talk about it) in the springtime. I prefer to do neither.
The truth is, I’m often tidying, reorganizing, and cleaning. In the fall, I bought plastic bins and Lazy Susans to organize my pantry. The end-result isn’t Pinterest-worthy, but it’s better than the jumble of groceries it was before. Every few months, I donate my clothes that are either ill-fitting or outdated. I vacuum and dust regularly, thanks to our two cats.
Digital cleaning is important to me, too. Last week, I finally cut my email down to “inbox zero” for the first time in ages. I clear out my desktop and downloads folder every so often, always surprised at how fast the files pile up. And each week, I start a fresh to-do list—with some carryover from the previous week’s leftovers.
There’s not much method to my madness; you might even call it “intuitive cleaning.” But whether it’s haphazard or on an annual schedule, I love the occasional big clean.
–Kris Seavers, IRL editor