FBI's Elite Logo Squad Was Asleep When Fox Hijacked Bureau Seal

So the FBI, quite comically, wants Wikipedia to remove an image of the bureau seal from its site (a request the Wikimedia Foundation has politely declined).

The vigilance (and litigation threat) are curious considering that FBI officials seemed to care little when Fox Broadcasting hijacked the agency’s logo while promoting the September 2008 debut of “Fringe.” The drama, set in Boston, revolves around a fictional FBI unit devoted to examining alternate reality and unexplained phenomena.

As seen here (click to enlarge), Fox press mailings arrived in a yellow envelope carrying the FBI logo. There was also a red “Classified” stamp on the envelope, which carried a return address of One Center Plaza, the actual location of the bureau’s Boston field office. Inside, the Fox promotional material was found in a manila file folder bearing two FBI logos.

At the time, when TSG asked an FBI spokesperson about the propriety of Fox’s use of the bureau logo, well, his yawning was almost audible.

Which is not to say that the bureau’s new-found vigor isn’t a cause of concern in these parts, considering that TSG’s prized possession is an FBI rug (liberated years ago from a field office) upon which we tread every day.