Wellington Airport announced last weekend that they were planning to erect a 26x100 foot "Wellywood" sign on the hills overlooking Wellington, New Zealand. The sign is meant to be a celebration of the city's strong film industry niche and a nod to the country's burgeoning tourist attractions related to the "Lord of the Rings" film franchise. The decision comes fifteen months after the idea was first proposed, reports the Associated Press, much to the chagrin of Wellingtonians and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Leron Gubler, president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, is threatening legal action on the grounds that the chamber holds the trademark to the "Hollywood" sign, reports the NY Times. In a statement that details the full extent of the chamber's dealings (warning letters back and forth) with Wellington Airport, Gubler said the following:
We are not without a sense of humor, nor without legal rights. We hope that if the Wellington Airport wants to mimic our Sign in this fashion, it will proceed in cooperation with us and will recognize that the holder of the rights to the Sign and the party responsible for its continued existence is a nonprofit entity that works hard to raise funds so that the Sign even exists to be mimicked.
Gubler's statement also notes how controversial the sign is among Wellingtonians themselves. As of this writing, over 26,000 people have joined the "Wellingtonians Against the Wellywood Sign" facebook group. Sentiments on the Facebook wall include sentiments like "try hard" (a derogatory expression used to describe someone who is derivative and over-eager) and lengthy digressions on how Wellington should fight to protect national values: "I am not against a sign, just not a cheap copy of a sign from a city with attitudes that few New Zealanders would want to mimic."
*Article has been edited to reflect "Wellington, New Zealand" in the first sentence."