If it's a WordPress oriented company, project or subject matter I don't see how anyone could cry foul.

Sure it could be abused and a WordPress orient company could design their entire branding around Wapuu and make it appear as if it is their branding and mascot. But that hasn't been the case with how he's been used by us, or anyone in the WordPress community that I have seen.

It's a bit like crying foul for selling a plugin or theme when it is GPL. Wapuu is GPL and all of these uses are well within the license the design was released under.

All the custom Wapuu's I've seen have been fun, good natured and designed to put a smile on people's faces.

In our case we wanted to do something cool with Wapuu for the community that fit with who we are as a company and what our company brand identity and interests have revolved around... space.

We spent a few thousand dollars on printing a 7 color screen printed t-shirt which featured noting else but the space Wapuu you see in the article above. Purely to give the attendees of WordCamp Miami something they'd enjoy that also promotes WordPress.

We thought the WordCamp Miami attendees would get a kick out of Wapuu, in a space suit, hugging the moon which promotes WordPress. We were right. The t-shirts and stickers flew off the table in minutes.

If it's promoting WordPress or something that is WordPress related, even if it it incorporates a brand logo other than WordPress itself, I don't see anything wrong with it. Ultimately it's promoting WordPress. Even if it's a WPTavern logo, PostStatus logo, or WooNinja costume he's wearing. It's still all about WordPress.

Some people need to lighten up, and smile.