Cheesehead hat maker upset by billboard

ST. FRANCIS, Wis. — The company that makes the cheesehead hats is miffed with a physicians group that’s used one of the firm’s creations on an anti-cheese billboard.

The suburban Milwaukee cheese gear manufacturer, Foamation, has asked the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to take down the billboard near Green Bay. Foamation attorney Ed Sarskas says if that doesn’t happen the next step is a federal lawsuit.

The billboard ad features the Grim Reaper with a scythe and wearing a cheese wedge on his head. The billboard message warns of the health hazards of fat, cholesterol and sodium in cheese.

Sarskas tells the Journal Sentinel that Foamation doesn’t want to be associated with something that disparages cheese. Physicians committee spokeswoman Susan Levin says they want consumers to understand that cheese is a junk food.