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Wed Mar 10 01:55pm PST

U.S. Senate candidate on how campaign 'stole' Columbus logo

By Greg Wyshynski

Marc Delphine was fond of the logo a volunteer had designed for his campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Oregon: a silver star wrapped in a star-spangled banner that his designer told him evoked the letter 'D' for branding purposes.

It certainly was a memorable symbol. In fact, it was already being used by the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, as Delphine was stunned to discover on Wednesday.

The Blue Jackets PR staff was alerted by fans over Twitter of the trademark infringement, and passed the matter along to their legal department and then to the NHL. Delphine said he received a phone call from The Oregonian newspaper about misuse of the logo, followed by "30 consecutive emails" from around the country about it.

"They were all like, 'What are you doing with their logo?' and I was like, 'I didn't make the logo!' and we pulled it immediately," said Delphine, a Libertarian candidate making history as the first openly homosexual man to run for the U.S. Senate in Oregon. "I'm not interested in any kind of infringement. We don't even need a logo."

He said a volunteer associated with his Web site developer created the logo and donated it to the campaign. As you can see, the Blue Jackets' current logo (right) was simply flipped from left to right and the red circle synonymous with the Ohio state flag was removed. Instead of a 'D' the logo actually makes a 'C' for Columbus.

Sometimes you get what you pay for, according to Delphine. "I don't know if you know anything about Libertarian candidates, but they typically don't have a lot of money coming in. I was thinking this was so nice, but it was too good to be true," said Delphine, a self-professed "huge sports fan" but not a hockey fan. "It's not very original."

The logo was removed from the candidate's official Web site, though it remained on Delphine's Facebook page as of Wednesday afternoon.

He said he hoped his candidacy wouldn't become synonymous with this logo foul-up. "If anything, I hope this raises awareness for the Columbus Blue Jackets," said Delphine.

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527 Comments

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  1. MTL_WINGS
    1. Posted by MTL_WINGS Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:06 pm EST

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    Not only did the graphic designer steal the logo, but he got the guy's name backwards.
  2. reczek264
    2. Posted by reczek264 Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:06 pm EST

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    "If anything, I hope this raises awareness for the Columbus Blue Jackets"...he makes it sound like the Blue Jackets are a disease
  3. Sean
    3. Posted by Sean Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:15 pm EST

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    @Quasigenius - They are less like a disease now that Hitch and his trap are gone. But the stigma still remains.
  4. Certified Assassin
    4. Posted by Certified Assassin Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:19 pm EST

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    I think what he meant to say was, "I didn't know Colombus had a hockey team..."
  5. Certified Assassin
    5. Posted by Certified Assassin Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:20 pm EST

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    *Columbus (Hooray for 1492!)
  6. Ben D.
    6. Posted by Ben D. Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:24 pm EST

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    If I lived in Oregon, I'd vote for this guy - he definitely took the high road here.
  7. pucknuck
    7. Posted by pucknuck Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:26 pm EST

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    hopefully doctors, with the support of the red cross, will be able to eradicate the columbus blue jackets from general population once and for all. please donate and support the cause.
  8. Brian K
    8. Posted by Brian K Wed Mar 10, 2010 5:39 pm EST

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    As a Libertarian candidate, Delphine believes that if the Columbus Blue Jackets can't make a logo that can't be easily duplicated, then they don't deserve to have a logo.
  9. Adam
    9. Posted by Adam Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:05 pm EST

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    @Ryan
    Zing!
  10. Gabe L
    10. Posted by Gabe L Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:06 pm EST

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    @2 It is. Columbus is where hockey careers go to die.
    @10 Stay classy.
  11. Bubbabanjo
    11. Posted by Bubbabanjo Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:21 pm EST

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    Yeah he might have stole it............but what the hella does that have to do with Columbus or a Blue Jacket?
    Stoopid logo for hockey.
    Stinks!
  12. Sven M
    12. Posted by Sven M Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:23 pm EST

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    'but what the hella does that have to do with Columbus or a Blue Jacket?'
    Um... the fact that it's a BIG GIANT 'C'?
  13. Jay-Jay
    13. Posted by Jay-Jay Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:28 pm EST

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    @ #10-stfu. i'm pretty sure most of the gay ppl i know have been far more productive member of society than you'll ever be. never post again, please (oh, and in case you were unaware of it, being gay is legal, they're fighting for the right to get married, not to exist)
  14. trouztrouz
    14. Posted by trouztrouz Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:29 pm EST

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    If it turns out that the campaign for a libertarian senate candidate from Oregon actually can actually raise awareness for the CBJ, the NHL is in much worse shape than I thought.
  15. Jay-Jay
    15. Posted by Jay-Jay Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:38 pm EST

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    @ #13- "The Blue Jackets' name and logos are rooted in Ohio's rich Civil War history." "The name "Blue Jackets" was chosen to celebrate "patriotism, pride, and the rich Civil War history in the state of Ohio and city of Columbus."[57] When President Abraham Lincoln requested that Ohio raise ten regiments at the outbreak of the Civil War, the state responded by raising a total of 23 volunteer infantry regiments for three months of service. Ohio also produced a number of great Civil War figures, including William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Philip Sheridan, and George Custer. Columbus itself was host to large military bases, Camp Chase and Camp Thomas, which saw hundreds of thousands of Union soldiers and thousands of Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. There was also a Shawnee leader named Blue Jacket in the Ohio Country after the American Revolutionary War."
    oh, and you can add in the fact that the design is a giant "C" around the star, and said "C" is made out of the state flag of Ohio (you know, the state the team plays in).
  16. Joe
    16. Posted by Joe Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:41 pm EST

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    King Ferdinand helped Columbus discover America.
    Marc Delphine is just trying to return the favor.
  17. The Gavel
    17. Posted by The Gavel Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:45 pm EST

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    @7 - I kind of chuckled at that for a second.
    @10 - You and people like you are great American heros. I certainly don't hope that you find a nice deep well to fall down ever... That would be awful. I'm sure the world wouldn't be about a thousand times better with you gone. Nevertheless, I've been wrong before...
  18. Doc Crow
    18. Posted by Doc Crow Wed Mar 10, 2010 6:59 pm EST

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    Delphine is currently lagging in the polls behind Walt Hendricks, who has cleverly worked his initials into a really cool logo involving a whale's tail...
  19. Jay-Jay
    19. Posted by Jay-Jay Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:10 pm EST

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    @ #20- well played sir. wittiest post i've seen in a while
  20. Evilducks
    20. Posted by Evilducks Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:16 pm EST

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    #21 I bet your still steaming that Lincoln took away your right to own Black people.
  21. Spezzal Teams Playa
    21. Posted by Spezzal Teams Playa Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:24 pm EST

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    The point is, even Lincoln had no tolerance for sodomy, just like every President until the one who went on trial for it.
    So what is the next topic that we should all gleefully embrace? You know, because our 21st century society is just so much wiser and less messed up than those barbaric fools who came before us.
  22. Jay-Jay
    22. Posted by Jay-Jay Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:26 pm EST

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    #21- Keep your government out of my religion and your religion out of my government. this is not an issue of righteousness, it's an issue of ppl being able to live their ifestyle
  23. Spezzal Teams Playa
    23. Posted by Spezzal Teams Playa Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:27 pm EST

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    BTW, Lincoln never took away My right to own black people. He took away white people's right to own black people.
  24. Jay-Jay
    24. Posted by Jay-Jay Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:46 pm EST

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    "This is why being gay should never have been legalized. It was always known as a gateway crime." "It is righteous and just people"
    those comments prove your intelligence. being gay has been "legal" for a long time now, and if it is legal, how the hell is it any sort of crime? thought so. sodomy and homosexuality are not the same thing you fool. and the idea of righteousness is generally a religion-based term. now stop spreading hate, get a brain, and talk about hockey, the subject at hand, and stop making yourself look like a fool.
  25. Wyshynski
    25. Posted by Wyshynski Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:12 pm EST

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    @ Spezzal Teams Playa and Jay-Jay --
    Simmer down now. Keep it to pucks.

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