DOOR COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – What started in 2025 over alleged trademark infringement has blown up into a viral social media back-and-forth and a lawsuit between a pair of pizzerias in Door County.
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The legal battle between Wild Tomato Pizza and Wild Man Pizza, both located in Door County, began in March 2025, when a letter addressed to Red Oak Vineyard, Inc., alleged the following against Wild Man:
“Your unauthorized display of WILD MAN and/or a scowl-eyed head with spiky hair in connection with, and in advertising for, a grill and/or pizzeria (not to mention in a location less than 15 miles from the nearest WILD location) is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of your services with WILD, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of your goods, services or commercial activities by WILD, which it has not provided. Accordingly, your advertising constitutes at least a negligent, and potentially a knowing and willful, trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition and/or deceptive sponsorship or approval.”
SmithKeaneLLP Intellectual Property Law—March 5, 2025, letter to Wild Man, Inc.
The letter followed by not demanding any payment; however, demanding that Wild Man, Inc. end all usage of the WILD MAN term and remove any advertising/signage using the “WILD moniker in connection with a grill/pizzeria at Red Oak Winery” in Sturgeon Bay.
Fast forward to mid-April 2026, and the situation has gone viral on social media, with Wild Tomato posting a statement regarding a social media video. That statement said legal action is always a last resort, and their intention is not to harm or negatively impact any other businesses.
Wild Tomato posted its own TikTok video saying the lawsuit isn’t over a single word. This video also has over 400,000 views.
The video was unspecified, but it relates to posts by paigehk_ on TikTok, who apparently works at Wild Man, and has since posted numerous videos concerning the ongoing lawsuit. Some of which garnered millions of views.
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The most recent update is that both parties are scheduled to be back in court on Monday, June 15, 2026, at 9 a.m.
The two logos can be seen on Wild Tomatoes Facebook page and Wild Man’s Facebook page.
