For a profession not known for its sense of humor, Budweiser's legal staff scores big

Better than shooting oneself in the foot

Better than shooting oneself in the foot

Best "cease and desist" letter, ever. 

A small brewery has been peddling "Dilly Dilly" brew, and that naturally brought in Budweiser's corporate lawyers, because if you don't protect a trademark, you lose it (think band-aid). The usual approach to this sort of thing is the one my own former firm employed: "reach out and crush someone" — but someone in corporate had the good sense to recognize that a WW III attack on a tiny company, just to protect a nonsensical phrase, would badly backfire. So they did an amazingly smart thing: came in funny, even generous (proffered Super Bowl tickets to the Minneapolis brewery's two best employees), and ended up with great publicity and the desired effect: the offending brewer is changing the beer's name to "coat tails". 

Someone deserves a Christmas bonus.