FSU Demands High School Change Its Logo, 29 Years Later
As early as 1981 Southeast High School in Bradenton, Florida has been using the familiar arrowhead spear logo & Seminole head for their sports teams, the Southeast Seminoles. The logos have always been very similar to the Florida State University logos, which has never been a mystery or surprise to anyone. The only major difference between the logos is Southeast is colored orange and blue, like the Florida Gators.
The two schools have been close over the years, with Coach Bobby Bowden himself traveling to Southeast to recruit players, including Southeast Alumni Peter Warrick and Adrian McPherson. (It's not known if Bowden directly recruited those two, but they were recruited by FSU and played there.)
Now, after all these years Florida State is suddenly demanding that Southeast High School stop using the logo. They hired a licensing company which issued a cease-and-desist letter to Southeast that says they are infringing on copyrighted university trademarks, saying FSU has a "valuable ownership interest" in the trademarks. The letter also states that Southeast is diluting the brand by using the logos.
Diluting the brand? If anything, they are making the brand stronger by propagating it to smaller communities like Bradenton. This helps with recruiting and brand recognition within the high school. If merchandising is really the problem, having a high school with a similar logo only helps merchandising, not hinders it.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Southeast High School alumni, and still have that logo on clothes that no longer fit. Hell, for a short time I was the one who was drawing the Seminole logo in the middle of the football field! Our association with Florida State was something to be proud of, even if you didn't end up going there. We were the 'Noles, they were the 'Noles and all was well in the world. So what changed?
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