It turned out to be the first time a stars-and-stripes design—used to hawk more than 1,000 products, from bathing suits to place mats—had ever been rejected as politically offensive. But Critchley's spirits never flagged. He took his case to the Trademark Office appellate board, which, after 10 months of deliberation, recently reversed the decision, citing his "seriousness of purpose."
Indeed, Critchley, an artist and AIDS activist living in Provincetown, Mass., had created his Old Glory Condom company with something more than money in mind. "Provincetown has been devastated by AIDS," he says. "I stopped counting about four years ago after 30 people." The Supreme Court was debating flag burning as a free-speech issue at the time and, says Critchley, "it just seemed logical to me that we should use this symbol for something constructive."
He launched his product line on Flag Day, 1990—the condoms themselves come in solid colors of red, white or blue—with the slogan Worn with Pride Country-Wide. Each package bears the Old Glory pledge: "We believe it is patriotic to protect and save lives.... Join us in promoting safer sex."
Though Old Glory has yet to show a profit, Critchley says the real gain has been increased AIDS awareness. "If [the packaging] wasn't provocative," he says, "it wouldn't be doing its job." But he insists he never meant to offend. In fact, patriotic types are some of his best customers. "I've had a lot of servicemen order condoms," he says.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
