Hoo boy, just when you couldn’t think this whole “OK boomer” thing couldn’t get more out of hand, it somehow keeps escalating. It’s become a war cry for millennials and Gen Z, a source of stress (and potential legal case) for baby boomers, and now it’s in the works to somehow become a TV show on Fox.
According to the findings of trademark attorney Josh Gerben, Fox has filed a trademark application for “OK Boomer” with the intention of launching a TV show with the same title.
Now this may seem like a bad joke but Gerben says this isn’t just something Fox can apply for with the intention of sitting on it and maybe using it later.
Based on the language of the application, it certainly seems like Fox have every intention of making an “OK boomer” reality, comedy and/or game show for TV. Gerban tells CNN that the studio wouldn’t file this unless a TV show was in serious consideration.
Before we get into hypotheticals over what kind of show “OK boomer” will be and all the millennial and Gen Z outrage that’ll likely come from this, Gerben opines that this application will likely get denied as “OK boomer” is a “widely used message.”
He says that a trademark registration won’t be issued to a “phrase that is commonly used to convey a social or political message” and the viral nature of “OK boomer” means it is near-impossible to identify “the source or a product or service,” which essentially defeats the purpose of a trademark.
As dodgy of a move this is, it’s not the first time someone has tried to trademark “OK boomer” for something. Some chap has filed an application for a clothing brand, another company has filed for a stickers and decals brand, and another bloke filed a trademark for a different TV show idea.
Talk about jumping the shark.
Given how annoyed “OK boomer” has made baby boomers everywhere, we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re trying to monetise the phrase as some sort of petty revenge that’ll also land them some big bucks.
But if that whole Kylie Jenner “rise and shine” saga has taught us anything, it’s that this application will likely fail and those who applied for the trademark will doubly feel the wrath of “OK boomer” as a consequence.