Barney Takes A Beating

Large purple dinosaur Barney has taken not one, but three, beatings recently. First, the chicken mascot of the Famous San Diego Chicken Company regularly beat the stuffing out of the sickly-sweet stuffed lizard in a comedy routine to promote their food. Then, when Barney's owners took them to court claiming breach of copyright, they took another beating. The judge ruled that the routine was a parody and thus perfectly acceptable. To add insult to injury, a fake Barney press release was sent out, ostensibly promoting his new singalong cassette, "perfect for a short or long car trips." The leaflet said the cassette was better than "having the little shits clamoring to stop at the next McDonald's..." and urged potential purchasers to "plug their ears with these latest banalities." The PR firm behind the release apologized for what it called a "malicious prank" in which an anti-Barney faction tampered with the copy.