TGI Fridays Won’t Sue MONEYGUN Over Pop-Up, Sends Them Flair

The owners of MONEYGUN are breathing sighs of relief after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from TGI Fridays’s attorneys in response to the West Loop bar’s Halloween costume — a tribute to the chain called “TGI-MONEYGUN.” In keeping with Netflix’s humorous response to the Stranger Things pop-up, TGI Fridays’s legal crew isn’t suing MONEYGUN — its letter called it “a rite of passage to dress up as your hero for Halloween.” As long as MONEYGUN switches names and avoids copyright infringement, TGI Fridays won’t sue. In fact, the chain sent MONEYGUN a gift — a package filled with buttons and other pieces of Fridays’s flair.

TGI Fridays’s letter mentions how the chain needs to “protect our brands and to take action against any use that might cause confusion or diminish the value of our trademarks.”

“I’m concerned that your event — featuring ‘TGI’ branding, our logo, a variation of our IN HERE, IT’S ALWAYS FRIDAY slogan, and so on — would cross that line,” the letter (see below) read.

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MONEYGUN staff, according to a rep, was delighted to receive the treasure trove of gifts from the chain. It has since changed the name of its Halloween party to “Wear The Flair (WTF) MONEYGUN.” MONEYGUN still may serve super-premium mudslides and to try to promote an atmosphere where “it feels like it’s the end of the week all the time.” It is urging customers to wear their finest suspenders and join the staff in sporting flair: the items Fridays employees wear, as popularized in Mike Judge’s 1999 film Office Space.

The pop-up starts today and goes through Wednesday. For those keeping score at home, this is the second Halloween pop-up name change in a week. Beauty Bar changed its name after the owners of Zero Gravity, a suburban nightclub that closed last year, threatened the West Loop dance club with a lawsuit.

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