Where the Burger Meets the Road

General Mills is not amused. The company is suing the maker of a product called Roadkill Helper, alleging trademark infringement.

Roadkill Helper contains only about a penny’s worth of macaroni--”just enough so the box rattles,” said Kevin Johnson, president of Gag Foods of Woodland Park, Colo.

In a U.S. District Court lawsuit, General Mills, maker of Hamburger Helper, said consumers will be confused and that its trademark cost $500 million to establish. Christopher Sandberg, Gag’s attorney, said Roadkill is a parody and deserves First Amendment protection.

Whence the idea? It came to Johnson when he saw a squashed animal on a highway.