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Rainbow Rowell: Sometimes an O isn't just an O
BY RAINBOW ROWELL
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
 When the Chamber of Commerce encouraged Omaha businesses to embrace the
"O!" - Dr. John's can't be the kind of business it had in mind.
"Dr. John's, Home Of The Big O!" declares a billboard for the sex shop.
The sign went up at the beginning of December on 132nd Street just
north of L.
The hitch is, Dr. John's big "O!" looks a lot like the big "O!" that
the chamber and the Visitors Bureau are using as Omaha's new slogan and
icon.
Sharon Brodkey, spokeswoman for the chamber, wasn't happy about the
billboard or the fact that I was calling to talk to her about the
billboard.
She wouldn't comment on the sign, other than to say that the "O!" is
trademarked.
Omaha businesses are welcome to use "O!" with the chamber's permission,
she said. Dr. John's did not ask the chamber's permission.
As far as Dr. John himself sees it, he doesn't need to ask anyone for
permission.
The Chamber of Commerce, John Haltom said, doesn't own the letter "O."
Dr. John isn't the first person to use a capital O to stand for orgasm.
When the city and civic groups unveiled Omaha's new "O!" . . . more
than a few people giggled.
"The Big O" is standard code in women's magazines. An online outlet
store, Overstock.com, has even been using the orgasmic O connotation to
spice up its TV commercials: "Have you discovered the secret of the Big
O?"
It was just a matter of time before somebody publicly twisted Omaha's
"O!" into an "O!"
Haltom says he has been using "the big O!" in advertising for 16 years,
before he even opened in Omaha - because "you don't want to say
'orgasm' on the radio."
When Dr. John's came to Omaha four years ago, he said, it was natural
to advertise the big O in the big O.
"It's been in all of our advertising since Day One."
(Haltom no longer owns the Omaha store, he said, but still acts as its
spokesman.)
Dr. John's already has foiled one attempt to bring down the southwest
Omaha sign, said David Henson, who handles Dr. John's advertising.
Henson said that Waitt Media, which owns the billboard, decided to take
the ad down just before Christmas, telling Henson that a community
group claimed a trademark on the "O!"
Henson talked Waitt into leaving the sign, arguing that it wasn't the
company's job to police trademarks.
"That billboard is staying up," Henson said, "and we're going to do
more."
Calls to Waitt Media weren't immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
The struggle over the sign - and it seems clear that there is a
struggle, based on all the tense no-comment-ing from the chamber -
might come down to typeface.
The trademarked "O!" is a specific O with a specific exclamation point.
If you've seen the billboard, it seems clear that Dr. John's is trying
to mimic that style.
Henson says it wasn't intentional. He says the "O!" on the billboard
looks a lot like O's that Dr. John's has used in other markets.
Dr. John himself can't comment on the specifics. He didn't help develop
the billboard - "I was in jail" - and hasn't seen it yet.
Still, he said, "How many ways can you make an O?"
He says the sign is staying up for a year, until the end of the
contract, whether the chamber likes it or not.
"If they want to sue me, they can get in line."
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