Juan Valdez drinks Costa Rican coffee ( es, Juan Valdez bebe café de Costa Rica) is a

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

, implying that

Juan Valdez Juan Valdez is a fictional character who has appeared in advertisements for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia since 1958, representing a Colombian coffee farmer. The advertisements were designed by the Doyle Dane Bernbach ad a ...

, a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by the

Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, ( es, link=no, Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia), abbreviated as Colombian Coffee Growers Federation or Fedecafé, is a non-profit business organization, popularly known for its ...

(Fedecafé), drinks

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

from

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. At one time, it was used on

bumper stickers A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles—although they are often stuck onto other objects. Most bumper stickers ar ...

in Costa Rica. The slogan prompted a lawsuit for the first time in 2006, when Fedecafé sued

Café Britt Café Britt is a Costa Rican company that produces and markets gourmet coffee, chocolate and other products. They create and sponsor coffee-related tourism and education in Costa Rica. Products are sold in retailers, online, in Britt Café • B ...

following a t-shirt dispute.

History

The origins of the slogan are unclear,

has appeared in advertisements for

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n coffee since 1959. Jaime Daremblum, then- Costa Rican ambassador to the United States, used the phrase in a 1999 speech.''A.M. Costa Rica''. May 11, 2006.
Colombians finally react to Juan Valdez joke
" Vol. 6. No. 93. Juan Valdez drink costa rican coffe

Apparently the message about Juan Valdez as a drinker of Costa Rican coffee was attributed to José Duval, a New York-based actor, who was the first Juan Valdez.

Legal disputes

In 2006, the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia received an injunction preventing the Costa Rican company Café Britt from selling

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

s with the slogan. Fedecafé then filed a $1 million lawsuit on July 7, 2006, after Café Britt refused to sign a contract, stating that it must respect the

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

of Fedecafé and refrain from using either the name or image of Juan Valdez. Café Britt filed a $200,000 counter-suit, after producing an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

from a Costa Rican man, Juan Valdez, certifying that ''he'' does drink Costa Rican coffee. Café Britt also argued that the phrase is so common as to be ineligible for legal protection. Fedecafé maintains that Café Britt agreed in early 2006 to stop using its trademarks; Pablo Vargas, the manager of Café Britt, denies that such an agreement existed. The only and final agreement, according to Fedecafé's proposal of January 19, 2006, consisted in the total recall of the t-shirts. This is the agreement Britt accepted and executed on that same date. In exchange, Fedecafé committed to dismiss any further legal process. The "other" Juan Valdez was discovered as early as 1999. Café Britt presented a criminal case against Gabriel Silva, Fedecafé's manager, for presumably defamatory statements, as well as taking civil action against him for damages of $1,000,000. Mr. Silva was notified in Colombia through diplomatic channels. All charges have since been dropped. When asked to comment, Silva's lawyer, Kyle Hoskinson, stated, "I'm glad this is all over."

References

{{reflist Coffee culture Economy of Costa Rica Advertising slogans Trademark law Law of Costa Rica