Pillsbury Fights Dough Girl : Tami Cromar to Change Name of 'My Dough Girl'

Tami Cromar, the owner of a small Salt Lake City cookie bakery, My Dough Girl, agreed to change the name of her shop after General Mills Inc., which owns the Pillsbury brand, told her to stop using the name - saying it's too similar to Pillsbury's trademark Doughboy.

Cromar says she's received a "Cease and Desist" order from Pillsbury, telling her to drop the name or risk getting sued for trademark infringement.

The 45-year-old entrepreneur has decided to comply with their wishes as she doesn't have the money to fight the world's sixth-largest food company.

"Rather than be broke and homeless I'd rather just be creative and bake cookies," she said. "I don't have the power to fight."

Cromar says "My Dough Girl" was not inspired by the Pillsbury's famous doughboy mascot. Cromar's cookies menu includes Penelope, Anna, Betty, Virginia..etc, but none of the cookies is named Tami. Her husband remarked, "I know who my dough girl is. My dough girl is Tami." She said that was the origin of the name.

Cromar says the name change won't affect her 18-month-old business. "Even if we are a different name, our cookies are still going to be fabulous."

Cromar's case has been receiving plenty of media attention. Over the past week, Salt Lake city's two main daily newspapers ran stories on Cromar's plight. A Salt Lake food writer created a "My Dough Girl vs. Pillsbury Corporation" page on Facebook. Pillsbury's own Facebook page has been flooded with complaints.

Photo credit: PicApp, www.DoughGirl.com