WAMU CHARGES YOU TO WHOO HOO!™

I caught this ad on some various website and just thought I'd make you all aware of it. Apparently, Washington Mutual Bank has trademarked the exclamation "Whoo hoo!™" Next time you blurt out this celebratory utterance, WaMu is going to send you a bill for an "administrative fee" for its usage, equal to or greater than the cost of the use of one of their ATMs. What about when that Blur song comes on after a goal during a hockey game? Yes, all 20,000 fans PLUS those "whoo-hooing" along at home will owe the bank money. In fact, Homer Simpson officially owes the bank about $452,000, retroactive to 1989. WaMu offers WaMu Free Checking™ (whoo hoo!™ not included).

How anyone can claim the rights to "Whoo hoo!™" is beyond me. This is akin to Monster Cable claiming they own the the word "monster" and trying to sue other companies who use it from Monster.com, Monster Garage, the "Monster Seats" at Fenway, and Pixar's Monsters, Inc. Even the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago Bears, are not immune, even though they predate the aforementioned maker of the most unnecessarily expensive electronics accessories on the planet by about 100 years. Who are they kidding?

To this I say, F-Yu WaMu!

(One other question: what does it mean to "pre-shop"? I saw this on a sale flyer for a furniture store, wherein a salesperson invites you to do so before speaking with them. I'm going to use this line next time some commission-jonesing worker accosts me in a store: "No, I'm not shopping for a new bed, I'm only PRE-shopping. I will contact you at the exact moment I officially switch to 'shop' mode.")

UPDATE: I have a way around this trademark: make sure you always say/type "WOO HOO!" and not "Whoo hoo!™" That should hold up in court.

WOO HOO!