The legal department at Buc-ee's, the Texas-based convenience store chain whose rest stops have become pilgrimage sites for road-weary travelers seeking clean bathrooms and an improbable variety of beef jerky, has spent the better part of a decade filing trademark lawsuits against small businesses whose logos feature cartoon animals. On Sunday, it received an invitation to sue someone who might actually show up.

John Oliver, the host of "Last Week Tonight" on HBO, concluded his July 26 episode by unveiling a parody merchandise line called "Buc-Off," featuring a seven-foot-tall squirrel mascot named Mr. Nutterbutter. Proceeds from the merchandise will go to Hunger Free America, a nonprofit organization. The segment was, in effect, a dare.

"I would argue, if you get confused between those two logos, that is an issue with you," Mr. Oliver said, "because one is a beaver and one is a moose."

(He was referring to a case involving Mickey's, a small business with a moose logo, which had the misfortune of selling snacks in the same country as Buc-ee's.)

The chain, which has built a legal record as carefully maintained as its famous restrooms, has prevailed in nearly all of its trademark disputes — in part because most defendants lack the resources to fight a company that operates more than 50 locations across the South and Southwest. In 2014, Buc-ee's forced the Frio Beaver store to abandon its mascot. In 2018, a Houston jury found that a rival called Choke Canyon had infringed on Buc-ee's branding with its grinning alligator logo.

Two days after Mr. Oliver's challenge aired, Buc-ee's filed suit against Beavers Mini Mart, a small carryout business.

Whether the company will take the bait from HBO, which is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, remains to be seen. Legal observers have suggested the public relations consequences would be considerable, though Buc-ee's has not historically shown itself to be deterred by such considerations.

Mr. Nutterbutter, for his part, appears unafraid.

Original story published in MediaPost: "John Oliver Mocks Litigious Buc-ee's"