NRG drops Kipchoge Radio tag after Eliud Kipchoge's threat of litigation

NRG Radio quickly responds to Eliud Kipchoge's threat

Tony Mukere

October 18, 2019 5:07 PM

Eliud Kipchoge shows his no-nonsense side

NRG drops Kipchoge Radio tag after Eliud Kipchoge's threat of litigation

Nairobi-based radio station, NRG on Friday made a prompt response to threat of litigation launched by celebrated athletic champion Eliud Kipchoge.

On Friday afternoon, Kipchoge, through his lawyer Donald Kipkorir, issued a demand letter for the station to cease using his client's name and apologise within two hours.

A spot check by Pulselive.co.ke showed that NRG had deleted all the promotion materials bearing Kipchoge's name.

The station also immediately changed its name to Mashujaa Radio - away from the Kipchoge Radio tag which they had expropriated themselves in the aftermath of the historic achievement by the world champion at the Ineos Challenge.

It was not immediately clear if NRG had made a written apology as per the demand letter by lawyer Kipkorir.

However, the station made a light comment, promising to issue a public response on Twitter in less than 1 hour, 59 seconds, and 40 microseconds (the time Kipchoge took to complete Ineos Challenge in Vienna).

"Senior Counsel DonaldBKipkorir our response to your demand on Twitter on behalf of our Listeners, Fans and Friends will be revealed in under 1:59:40," NRG posted on Twitter where it was heavily criticised for commercial use of Kipchoge's name without his permission.

Apart from using the tag Kipchoge Radio, the station had run a social media campaign promising to gift Kipchoge a secondhand BMW i8 if they were able to get one million followers on Instragram in a span of 24 hours.

NRG has accumulated about 130 thousand followers in its lifetime.

Tony Mukere