Lawsuit
In a comic strip published on January 2, 2009, one character wonders if the Colombian crime syndicate puts parts of the body of Juan Valdez in each can of coffee. The comic strip refers to an advertising slogan of Colombian coffee that there's a little bit of Juan Valdez in every can of Colombian coffee. In response to the comic strip, the Colombian Coffee-growers Federation made plans to sue artist Mike Peters for linking Colombian coffee to human rights abuse. The Colombian Coffee-growers Federation announced it would seek at least $20,000,000 "for damage and harm, detriment to intellectual property and defamation" as well as a retraction from all newspapers that published the comic strip that day. Federation President Gabriel Silva called the comic strip "a denigrating and disrespectful piece of black humor". Peters responded saying that he loves Colombia, drinks Colombian coffee every day, and meant no offense or insult. Peters said the comic strip is meant to be read along with the other comic strips that week, including one that refers to a can of Pringles potato chips containing the ashes of the inventor of Pringles.
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