Did A Louisiana Democrat Steal John McCain's Campaign Logo?
Edwards, who is 87-years-old, served four terms as governor of the Bayou State before he went to federal prison after being convicted on fraud, money laundering, racketeering and extortion charges in 2002. Now, Edwards is mounting a comeback in Louisiana's Sixth District. But his face isn't the only part of his campaign that will be recognizable to voters. Edwards is using a logo that is nearly an exact copy of the one from the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
"It's actually not identical because it says 'Edwards' and 'Congress,'" Trina explained.
Still, Trina, who said she came up with the Edwards campaign logo, admitted it was at least inspired by McCain's logo.
"It's just because his wife, which is me, enjoyed the [McCain] logo and I designed the signs," she said.
However, Trina said Edwards was not paying homage to McCain via his logo since he doesn't share the senator's political party and wasn't involved in the process.
"He's actually a registered Democrat and he didn't design the signs," Trina said. "His wife did, that's me, I'm a registered Republican."
McCain's office declined to comment on this story.
Trina, who is over fifty years younger than Edwards, may not believe the logo is a copy, but a designer who spoke with Business Insider disagreed.
"This one seems like a direct lift. It seems like they're not even trying to do anything original," Lee Miller, a New York City-based logo designed who has worked on several political campaigns, said of Edwards' branding.
Logos can be protected by copyright, trademark, and dilution laws, which can prohibit overly similar copies.
Trina insisted the Edwards logo is clearly not the same as McCain's, but she did not identify any specific differences when asked by Business Insider.
"You can put them next to each other and see," she said. "I'm sure."