Cheeky Web Urchin Buys Michelin Guides Domain, Turns It Into ‘Michel (Platini) In Guides’ Shrine

Chris Wright

7th, February 2013

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By Chris Wright

For those not au fait with fine dining, haute cuisine and the like, the Michelin Guide is a kind of gastronomic bible for those who are only truly happy when their steak is still twitching, their chips come served with a drizzle of helium-flavoured foam and it’s all been ordered from a menu written in a language that requires a codex to decipher.

In short: it’s a fairly big old deal in food circles.

“What does that have to do with football?,” we hear you whinny like asthmatic llamas. Well, a 28-year-old lad from Luton is currently being threatened by Michelin after buying the domain name ‘www.michelinguides.com’ for just £6 recently.

Adam Mascall received a sternly-worded letter from Michelin warning him that the name was a trademark and that he’d be sued if he didn’t relinquish the domain. Adam, however, argued that his website was actually ‘Michel In Guides.com‘ (an homage to Monsieur Platini) and duly filled the site with this kind of thing…

Genius.

Adam, who is a salesman by day, said: “I’m not attempting to use it for personal gain or to in any way confuse or redirect Michelin’s customers. I just did this for a laugh.”

A Michelin spokesman said: “While we appreciate the amusing nature of the website, we have to do everything possible to protect the Michelin brand.”

As far as we know, the dispute is still ongoing.

(Via The Sun/thanks to @ninja_gates for the nudge)