It seems that everyone still remembers the ‘S’ thing. That sneaky, graffiti-looking ‘S’ that school kids used to scribble in the pages of their workbooks, or on the whiteboard when the teacher wasn’t looking.
The thing is, no one really knows where it came from. Myths have circulated around the school system that it was a secret sign for cool kids or the mark of an escaped prisoner, but they were probably wrong.
The ‘S’ thing, otherwise known as the graffiti ‘S’ has officially been trademarked, so careful where you use it.
It seems bizarre that somebody could possibly own this universal symbol of childhood rebellion but it was recently revealed that earlier this year an Australian man, Mark May, officially trademarked the infamous ‘S’.
May assured the public that he “wanted to trademark the symbol to preserve it” as “over the past 100 years, this symbol has permeated itself into almost everyone’s lives irrespective of race, religion, upbringing, or beliefs.” He calls himself the “caretaker of the now heritage-listed ‘S’.”
Because it is now May’s intellectual property, he does have the right to sue anyone who uses it without his permission, which raises a whole slew of questions about kids and teenagers indulging in the drawing of such an iconic symbol. When asked about it, May explained that “the symbol is nothing without the people who draw it on their school bags or tag it on their walls.” This means that you’re safe from a lawsuit if you cheekily draw it in the back of your books, but if you’re a company hoping to profit off the symbol, then you’re not.
In the meantime, go off into the world with this new knowledge and reverently spread this childhood symbol in the small corners of your world.
