Comedian Joe Lycett changes his name to Hugo Boss to protest label's treatment of small businesses

The British funnyman is standing up against cease and desist letters sent by the fashion brand to companies who use the word 'Boss'

Joe Lycett has legally changed his name to Hugo Boss. Courtesy GC Images

Comedian Joe Lycett is known for his elaborate pranks, but his latest might prove to be his most outlandish yet.

The British funnyman announced he has changed his name via deed poll to Hugo Boss, in protest of the German fashion company.

In a statement posted on Twitter, the comedian, whose sketches often include hilarious take-downs of email and phone scam artists, said the name swap was a reaction to cease and desist letters sent by the fashion brand to small businesses and charities who have used the word "Boss".

Fees associated with rebranding and legal proceedings had cost those small businesses thousands of pounds, Lycett said.

In his announcement, he posted a photo of his official name change from the UK Deed Poll Office, saying it was "clear that @HugoBoss hates people using their name".

"Unfortunately for them this week I legally changed my name by deed poll and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss," he wrote.

News of the comedian's name swap quickly went viral, with many people congratulating him for taking a stand.

Lycett later poked fun at the media frenzy surrounding his prank on Twitter, acknowledging the huge number of requests he had received for statements.

"I will now make a number of statements which I REALLY hope do not get confused with the opinions of @HUGOBOSS. Just to clarify, these are the statements of Hugo Boss, not of Hugo Boss."

He followed this with several hilarious tweets alleging that Hugo Boss "microwaves fish in his own house", that he "always asks, 'what percentage are you on?' before he lets you borrow his charger", and finally that he "loves comedy consumer shows that stand up for small businesses who were issued cease and desist letters from multi-national corporations".

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