LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tough-guy actor Mr. T is famed for his scowl and now he is glaring at an electronics retail chain that the former "A Team" star says stole his likeness and made him look like a fool in their ads.
Mr. T, who lent his famous gold-adorned image to everything from TV shows and movies to action figures and a breakfast cereal in the 1980s, said Minnesota-based Best Buy Co. Inc. made unauthorized use of his 1982 breakout role in "Rocky III" to hawk its wares.
The 50-year-old Chicago-born actor sued the company in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, demanding that it stop using his image and pay him unspecified damages.
A Best Buy spokesman said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit accuses Best Buy, one of the nation's largest appliance retail chains, of running a November 2002 ad campaign featuring a boxing scene from "Rocky III," in which Mr. T and Sylvester Stallone fight.
The chain allegedly altered the "noble and serious" boxing sequence by digitally removing Stallone and making it appear that Mr. T was boxing with a "middle aged, balding, out-of-shape" Best Buy salesman.
"At no time did Mr. T consent to Best Buy's use of his likeness, photograph and voice ... to promote Best Buy," the lawsuit said. "Best Buy's portrayal of Mr. T as a fool thus has the likelihood of injuring Mr. T's business reputation and of diluting the distinct quality of Mr. T's professional persona."
Want to learn more?
http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/01/news/companies/mrt_bestbuy.reut/
Mr. T, who lent his famous gold-adorned image to everything from TV shows and movies to action figures and a breakfast cereal in the 1980s, said Minnesota-based Best Buy Co. Inc. made unauthorized use of his 1982 breakout role in "Rocky III" to hawk its wares.
The 50-year-old Chicago-born actor sued the company in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, demanding that it stop using his image and pay him unspecified damages.
A Best Buy spokesman said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit accuses Best Buy, one of the nation's largest appliance retail chains, of running a November 2002 ad campaign featuring a boxing scene from "Rocky III," in which Mr. T and Sylvester Stallone fight.
The chain allegedly altered the "noble and serious" boxing sequence by digitally removing Stallone and making it appear that Mr. T was boxing with a "middle aged, balding, out-of-shape" Best Buy salesman.
"At no time did Mr. T consent to Best Buy's use of his likeness, photograph and voice ... to promote Best Buy," the lawsuit said. "Best Buy's portrayal of Mr. T as a fool thus has the likelihood of injuring Mr. T's business reputation and of diluting the distinct quality of Mr. T's professional persona."
Want to learn more?
http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/01/news/companies/mrt_bestbuy.reut/