NORWALK, CT — The owner of Rebel Daughter Cookies in Norwalk said one of her cookies had to be renamed after receiving a notice of copyright infringement last week.
Anne Grossman said she was shutting down her store Friday and checking her email when she received the notice.
“I initially almost dismissed it and deleted it because it had a drooling emoji in the email,” Grossman said to Patch, “and I just thought if this is something serious, nobody is going to be using an emoji in a legal email.”
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After further investigation, she discovered the letter was legitimate and had been sent by a law firm representing the California Milk Processor Board regarding a lactation cookie on her menu named “Got Milk?”
“When I was creating lactation cookies in 2019, I thought it would be a funny tongue-in-cheek nod to the 90’s ad campaign that I grew up with,” Grossman said. “Obviously it was a play on words because it’s a lactation cookie. I never thought that this huge multi-mega-million dollar conglomerate would ever care even if they did find out. It was just supposed to be innocent and funny. It was a bit surreal, but they do own the trademark.”
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Grossman said she initially asked if she could change the name to simply omit one of the words, however the law firm refused and gave her a day to change the name. She obliged and quickly took to Instagram to ask her bakery’s fans for help renaming the cookie.
“They named it ‘Udderly Ridiculous,'” Grossman said. “It’s fun, it’s still punny and it’s kind of a nod to this whole little moment in time.”
Though she was initially surprised her cookie even ended up on the board’s radar, Grossman said her lactation cookies were recently featured on the Food Network’s list of “22 Postpartum Gifts We Love for New Moms.”
“It’s not a big deal at all to change the name, and I think the story is kind of funny and ironic,” Grossman said. “It was supposed to be this innocent cute little thing about a lactation cookie, and I just found it a little surreal that this big California conglomerate who ended the campaign in 2014 cares about this little cookie company in Connecticut making lactation cookies.”
According to Grossman, a lactation cookie is an oat-based product made up of ingredients that are said to help increase a nursing mother’s supply of breast milk, however it can also be enjoyed by any customer.
In an effort to use the situation to help others, Grossman said all of the profits from sales of her “Udderly Ridiculous” cookie through the end of the week will be donated to La Leche League, a nonprofit breastfeeding organization that provides information and support to breastfeeding moms.
“It’s just a funny, ironic situation,” Grossman said, “and I guess it’s one of those moments where you kind of look around and think ‘wow, I really made it’ if they care.”
Located at 21 Issacs Street in Norwalk, Rebel Daughter Cookies started out in Grossman’s kitchen when she was a stay-at-home mom.
“I thought my goal in life was to raise my kids,” Grossman said, “just like my mom did…[but] I had this feeling of emptiness, feeling like I needed a creative outlet and like I needed to do something for myself again.”
Grossman decided to start baking again at a time when she also found herself unsatisfied with the various cookie options around her.
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“With this new creative outlet,” Grossman said, “I decided I was going to make it my mission to make the best chocolate chunk cookies around, and all different kinds.”
After testing various recipes, Grossman eventually landed on the perfect combination of flavors, which started her down a “laser-focused path” to create a national brand.
“My mom always called me her rebel daughter growing up, and so that name just really fit that whole mentality of going out on my own,” Grossman said. “Now of course I have so much support from my family and my friends, but I think it took them a little bit of time to realize that I was serious and I wasn’t turning back, and I was creating something fun that a lot of people identify with to get that support behind me.”
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