If you have a young child or are just some freak who still enjoys McDonald's Happy Meals, you may remember back in April when the fast food chain decided to promote American Idol by coming out with a series of toys that were each based on a different music genre. Collect ’em all: Disco Dave, Country Clay, Rockin’ Riley, Soulful Selma, and New Wave Nigel.
Wait... scratch that last one, as Devo are claiming that New Wave Nigel is a complete ripoff of their image. Nigel comes outfitted with an orange jumpsuit, pink sunglasses, and a hat that looks suspiciously like Devo’s famous “energy dome” hat. Hmm, sounds questionable, indeed!
Apparently, the toy also plays a “Devo-esque” song too. Devo bass player, Gerald Casale, had the following to say about the band’s position on the matter:
We are in the midst of suing them. This New Wave Nigel doll that they've created is just a complete Devo rip-off and the red hat is exactly the red hat that I designed, and it's copyrighted and trademarked. They didn't ask us anything. Plus, we don't like McDonald's, and we don't like American Idol, so we're doubly offended.
