Credits: Social Media
Disney sues Star Wars-themed car wash where Darth Vader and Chewbacca clean cars
Lucasfilm, the Disney-owned production company behind Star Wars, has issued a lawsuit against a Star Wars-themed car wash based in Chile known as Star Wash.
Videos posted to Star Washs social media pages on Instagram and TikTok, which have more than 25,000 followers each, show attendants cleaning vehicles while dressed as various characters from the galaxy far, far away including Darth Vader, Imperial Stormtroopers, Boba Fett and Chewbacca.
Star Wash lawsuit explained
According to a report from Reuters, lawyers representing the car wash, which is based on the outskirts of the Chilean capital Santiago, have said its owner Matias Jara was in the process of registering the name of his business with the Chilean patent authority INAPI when he received the lawsuit from Lucasfilm.
Jaras lawyers revealed the production company, which has been owned by Disney since a $4 billion takeover in 2012, wanted to block the registration of the name Star Wash, believing it could cause confusion by suggesting the car wash is officially affiliated with the Star Wars brand.
However, Lucasfilm has not raised any issues with the car washs use of Star Wars-themed attendants.
Jara is contesting the suit, with his lawyers arguing the Star Wash name is sufficiently different to avoid confusion and while Lucasfilms copyright of Star Wars includes products such as toys and other merchandise, it does not extend to cleaning cars.
Star Washs response to the lawsuit
In its efforts to combat the lawsuit, Star Wash has uploaded several videos to its social media pages to raise awareness of the suit and drum up support.
One video shows a Pedro Pascal lookalike dressed as The Mandalorian and handing out flyers to customers at a shopping mall.
In an interview, Matias Jara said: Of course this lawsuit is affecting us. We’re a small business and we’re spending on things we hadn’t budgeted for.”
“We don’t make movies or sell their products or anything like that,” Jara added, explaining his young daughter had dreamt up the name after a family trip to a Disney theme park in the United States that features a Star Wars-themed area known as Galaxys Edge.
Fans on social media react
The story of the Star Wash car wash has sparked plenty of attention online, with many taking to social media to voice their thoughts.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) said: I know theyre mad they didnt come up with that idea.
A second offered a potential solution: How does this help their bottom dollar if this car wash does well? Wouldn’t it instead be smart to work with them instead?
Its a car wash& let people have fun, wrote a third.
A message that was mirrored by this commenter: This is so cute and creative. Leave Star Wash ALONE!!!
“Disney is probably opening a car wash chain now,” said a fifth.
This fan chimed in with a topical joke: “Chile must have not gotten the memo that only the Mouse [Mickey Mouse] is in the public domain, not Star Wars!”
And finally, this social media user referenced Disneys tough year at the box office in 2023: Disney has lost so much money that they need to sue a car wash in Chile.
The Focus and GRV Media have approached Lucasfilm and Disney for comment.
