La-Z-Boy isn't so lazy when it comes to defending its trademark.
You can only imagine how the company reacted internally when news came that a Minnesota man turned one of its famous living room chairs into a one-of-a-kind leather-upholstered motorized vehicle, and then got arrested for DUI, after downing eight or nine beers and slamming the contraption into a parked car.
After Dennis LeRoy Anderson's Oct. 22 guilty plea, the city of Proctor had to decide what to do with the infamous "Hot Rod La-Z-Boy" -- a plush leather chair souped up with an eight-horsepower lawnmower engine, headlights, side-view mirrors, a steering wheel and a cup holder.
"When we seize property, it's either kept for official use or auctioned off for the benefit of the taxpayers," said Proctor Police Chief Walter Wobig.
"I certainly can't think of an official use for that thing, so we put it on eBay, just as we have done with other forfeited property."
Bidding started at $500, about the same price of many La-Z-Boy chairs.
However, this item has pop culture lineage, and eBay is a place where a grilled cheese sandwich can sell for $28,000, as long as a faint image of the Virgin Mary is seared into the toast.
Culture vultures converged, and as of Monday evening, bidding had topped $43,000.
Then, after 98 bids, just 17 hours before the auction was to end, eBay de-listed the item.
Wobig says R. Rand Tucker, a La-Z-Boy attorney, asked that the name of his company be removed from the auction item.
"They didn't object to the chair being sold," Wobig says. "They just didn't want to be associated with it."
"This isn't even a La-Z-Boy chair," says company attorney Kathy Leibman. "Our marketing department analyzed it, and it's just not one of ours."
Wobig, however, noted that the chair had been modified when it was turned into a bizarre vehicle. He nonetheless complied with La-Z-Boy's request to remove the company's name from the eBay listing.
As of this morning, the "DWI Motorized Chair," as it is now called, returned to the online auction block, and bidding zoomed from $500 to $2,750 in the first few hours.
"This is a unique vehicle," it says in the listing.
"This is a great parade vehicle or a terrific business draw. Be the only one in town with a unique vehicle like this," the listing says, along with the warning not to drive it on public roads because it's "not street legal."
The chair's cracked leather is festooned with racing stickers that proclaim: "NHRA Championship Drag Racing" and "Hell Yeah, It's Fast!"
"I'm told it goes up to 40 mph," Wobig says. "We didn't test it out, however. I can tell you, it does have a sloppy transmission, even for a piece of living room furniture."
The listing notes that the chair is missing the seat cushion. "Mr. Anderson told us he threw it away," the chief says.
However, Anderson is now trying to sell the cushion in a separate eBay auction. The bidding starts at $500. He is also selling autographed pictures for $300.
The 62-year-old man, who had prior DUI arrests, faces two years of probation.
It's unclear whether bids for the re-listed chair will again top $40,000.
My wife would gladly spend several thousand dollars to motorize my La-Z-Boy, simply to get it out of the house.
You can only imagine how the company reacted internally when news came that a Minnesota man turned one of its famous living room chairs into a one-of-a-kind leather-upholstered motorized vehicle, and then got arrested for DUI, after downing eight or nine beers and slamming the contraption into a parked car.
"When we seize property, it's either kept for official use or auctioned off for the benefit of the taxpayers," said Proctor Police Chief Walter Wobig.
"I certainly can't think of an official use for that thing, so we put it on eBay, just as we have done with other forfeited property."
Bidding started at $500, about the same price of many La-Z-Boy chairs.
However, this item has pop culture lineage, and eBay is a place where a grilled cheese sandwich can sell for $28,000, as long as a faint image of the Virgin Mary is seared into the toast.
Culture vultures converged, and as of Monday evening, bidding had topped $43,000.
Then, after 98 bids, just 17 hours before the auction was to end, eBay de-listed the item.
Wobig says R. Rand Tucker, a La-Z-Boy attorney, asked that the name of his company be removed from the auction item.
"They didn't object to the chair being sold," Wobig says. "They just didn't want to be associated with it."
"This isn't even a La-Z-Boy chair," says company attorney Kathy Leibman. "Our marketing department analyzed it, and it's just not one of ours."
Wobig, however, noted that the chair had been modified when it was turned into a bizarre vehicle. He nonetheless complied with La-Z-Boy's request to remove the company's name from the eBay listing.
As of this morning, the "DWI Motorized Chair," as it is now called, returned to the online auction block, and bidding zoomed from $500 to $2,750 in the first few hours.
"This is a unique vehicle," it says in the listing.
"This is a great parade vehicle or a terrific business draw. Be the only one in town with a unique vehicle like this," the listing says, along with the warning not to drive it on public roads because it's "not street legal."
The chair's cracked leather is festooned with racing stickers that proclaim: "NHRA Championship Drag Racing" and "Hell Yeah, It's Fast!"
"I'm told it goes up to 40 mph," Wobig says. "We didn't test it out, however. I can tell you, it does have a sloppy transmission, even for a piece of living room furniture."
The listing notes that the chair is missing the seat cushion. "Mr. Anderson told us he threw it away," the chief says.
However, Anderson is now trying to sell the cushion in a separate eBay auction. The bidding starts at $500. He is also selling autographed pictures for $300.
The 62-year-old man, who had prior DUI arrests, faces two years of probation.
It's unclear whether bids for the re-listed chair will again top $40,000.
My wife would gladly spend several thousand dollars to motorize my La-Z-Boy, simply to get it out of the house.
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