By Jono Hutchison
God is said to be omnipotent, but does that mean the church can skirt round copyright laws?
Yeah right, says DB Breweries, after it discovered a small church in Tauranga has been using a sign parodying Tui's well-known ads.
It's not quite water into wine, but Bethlehem Community Church has turned a beer ad into its own flavour.
"We're in the communication business, we're wanting to communicate about the Christian faith, and humour is a good way of communicating," says Rev Jim Wallace, "so we use the 'yeah right' sign as a means of showing that we've got a sense of humour."
Tui wasn't as amused by the divine comedy.
"We asked them in a really, I guess, generous way, is that we'd be really keen for them to take it down in the future, because they're using our intellectual property to promote the message of their own organisation," says Tui marketing manager Jarrod Bear.
But the sign's not a new testament - the church has been using them for at least seven years.
"If they'd wanted to say something, they could have said something seven or eight years ago, and I think that seven or eight years ago it actually found its way into the New Zealand Herald, and someone even told me they saw reference to it in the New York Times," says Rev Wallace.
Tui says it's only just heard about the sign.
"The first that we became aware of this was actually today when it was featured in a local Bay of Plenty magazine, sorry paper, yesterday, so really the first that the brand's become aware of it is today," says Mr Bear.
The company says it's not the phrase "yeah right" that's trademarked, it's the style and colouring.
Reverend Wallace says his church will stop using the signs if Tui insists.
"We would be disappointed though, because, I mean, it's a David and Goliath situation in that they've got millions of dollars and we're just a new church."
For now, the sinful sign is still up, but it might not be for much longer if the church is forced to follow the Tui commandment.
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