The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been rebranding. The “In Our Grit, Our Glory” campaign was announced late August by Chancellor Ronnie Green and was met with mixed success. However, most students just ignored it and threw the T-shirts into the growing pile of shirts they hardly wear in the corner.
It turns out that some people felt more strongly about the campaign, specifically those in the sandpaper business. Home Depot is suing UNL for their Grit and Glory campaign, in regard to the “Grit” part.
Home Depot CEO Craig Menear says that the campaign has caused the company “financial loss,” specifically in the sandpaper department. The company is asking for, in addition to a large sum of money, the university to either seize all Grit and Glory shirts and merchandise or to put the Home Depot logo on everything from here on out.
“Who do they think they are attacking the sandpaper business like that? When it comes to sandpaper, there’s only one sheriff in town,” said Home Depot employee Sasha Sammison as she began making the motion of pulling finger guns from her pocket. “And that’s Home Depot.”
“We’ve got 100 grit, 200 grit, 150 grit,” said another employee who wished to remain unnamed. “But I ain’t seein’ ‘glory-grit.’”
The problem for the university lies in the fact that they shoved the T-shirts into just about everybody’s faces, and a recall probably wouldn’t go so well, not to mention the cost of putting “Home Depot” on everything.
Chancellor Ronnie Green did not immediately respond to a request for comment.