An Annapolis business owner said the parent company of Old Bay seasoning should quit being so crabby and learn to appreciate a compliment — or at least take a joke.

In almost any kitchen pantry or spice rack in Maryland, one is likely to find a container of Old Bay seasoning. Just look for the distinctive yellow and blue color scheme with the red top.

So when Jennifer Culpepper and the creative team at Crabcakes & Cannabis were thinking of Maryland brands to parody, the Old Bay shaker was an obvious choice.

“One of Maryland’s beloved brands is Old Bay. We try to pay homage to many Maryland staples,” Culpepper said. “The sticker was just another way we wanted to do that, to honor cool things from Maryland.”

Instead of “Old Bay Seasoning,” the sticker reads “420 Bud Dank Herb.” The images of a crab, shrimp, and chicken are replaced with a bong, joint and glass pipe. Rather than advertise its use “For Seafood, Poultry, Salads, Meats,” the sticker said it’s “For Chilling, Creating, Munching, Medicating.”

Crabcakes & Cannabis sold those stickers for several years until Hunt Valley-based McCormick & Co. threatened to sue over the design last month.

“McCormick takes this matter very seriously as it is not in the business of sponsoring products related to marijuana use,” the company said in a letter to Culpepper.

In a statement, McCormick said it had reached out to Crabcakes & Cannabis multiple times, asking the company to stop selling the sticker.

“Marylanders are proud to wear their Old Bay colors — and we love that they show their pride,” the statement read. “That said, we must ensure that the use of our brand continues to promote and protect the goodwill we have built over the past 75+ years and is authorized by McCormick.”

Its threat of a lawsuit came a few months after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with another large corporation — Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey — that sued a dog toy maker. “Bad Spaniels” was a chew toy in the shape and style of a Jack Daniel’s bottle. After losing in a lower court, the distiller appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which agreed the dog toy could be confusing consumers, who might think Jack Daniel’s endorsed the product.

Culpepper is a designer and entrepreneur who does cannabis-related branding. Crabcakes & Cannabis started as a side project after Culpepper created a version of the Maryland state flag featuring cannabis leaves. She said her main goal has been to spread joy and create connections within the cannabis industry.

Culpepper said she is sensitive to trademark infringement because her own designs — like the flag — have been stolen before, but the Old Bay sticker is parody, not theft.

After speaking with lawyers, Culpepper believes she ultimately would win any lawsuit, but it would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, bankrupting her.

“I don’t have those kind of deep pockets. I don’t have an [intellectual property] lawyer in my family,” Culpepper said. “I don’t think it’s fair for a big company to essentially bully a small business because we can’t afford to fight them in court.”

Rebecca Tushnet, the Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Law School, said this is a common strategy for corporations.

“Here’s the stark reality: It’s a joke. It’s an obvious joke,” Tushnet said of the sticker. “There really shouldn’t be any trademark problem, but it could be expensive to fight so that’s how big brands get people to not joke about them.”

According to Tushnet, the sticker actually could be beneficial to the Old Bay brand because it’s “further enshrining it as an icon.”

“Being famous enough to parody as an icon of Maryland is a pretty good place to be in,” she said.

Federal case law is on the side of satirists and creators like Culpepper, Tushnet said, especially because her sticker is more like a cartoon than a spice dispenser. Brands like Old Bay should be less salty, she said.

“It’s important for people to know that it’s OK to make fun of things,” Tushnet said.