@BCFerrys parody Twitter account back online after suspension
The satirical account infringed on trademark rights with its use of the old BC Ferries flag, says the corp
A Twitter account that pokes fun at BC Ferries is back online after it was briefly suspended for infringing on the ferry corporation's trademarked logo.
A complaint from BC Ferries prompted Twitter to suspend @BCFerrys on Tuesday because of its use of the Crown corporations old logo, a image of a dogwood flower on a green background.
By Wednesday morning the account was back up and running with a new image of a dogwood emblem that appears to be lifted from the Order of B.C. website on top of a background very similar to a BC Ferries map.
The anonymous account — which uses a misspelled variation of the corporation's name — regularly tweeted out satire aimed at the ferry corporation.
"Passengers who ordered hot dogs, please assemble at your mustard station," said one recent tweet.
"MV Coastal Renaissance is now delayed by an entire era, and will be re-christened MV Coastal Baroque," said another.
Read the new tweets on the revived @BCFerrys account
Pitcairn Island would have been okay if we weren't hurting so much from the floggings.
—@BCFerrysConfusion at sea
In an interview done before the account was revived, BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said the corporation can take a joke, but the parody was creating problems, so it filed a trademark infringement complaint with Twitter.
"At times customers are getting confused between @BCFerries — our Twitter account — and this parody account. Sometimes even the media's getting confused," said Marshall.
The 3667 followers of the spoof account include the verified Twitter accounts of B.C. Premier Christy Clark and local police departments.
While the account's name was a concern, the corporation's complaint to Twitter actually concerned the use of the corporation's old Dogwood logo, said Marshall.
She said the Crown corporation would not object to the spoof account being reactivated if the logo was changed.
Plenty of followers
It is not clear who is behind the anonymous account, but yesterday some fans of the spoof account noticed it had been suspended and all the previous tweets from the account were no longer viewable on Twitter.
One fan of the humorous micro blog is NDP ferry critic Claire Trevena, who said the ferry corporation shouldn't have shut down the parody.
"It's one of the only ones I've ever favourited. I find them very funny. It takes a little jab at BC Ferries," said Trevena.
Trevena said the ferry corporation should have been able to handle the joke without silencing the satirical account.
"I would hope BC Ferries can handle this and BC Ferries is providing a lot of fodder to this satirical account."