50 Cent Sues Taco Bell for Ad Campaign
Monday July 28, 2008
Rapper 50 Cent has filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain's "Why Pay More?" ad campaign. 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, is seeking $4 million in damages.
More on the Taco Bell Lawsuit:
Jackson says he eventually received the letter but only after it was sent to reporters. The lawsuit says Taco Bell tricked consumers into thinking that Jackson was involved in the ad campaign. The letter to Jackson reads in part, "We know that you adopted the name 50 Cent years ago as a metaphor for change. We at Taco Bell are also huge advocates for change. We encourage you to 'Think Outside the Bun' and hope you accept our offer."
In 2005, Jackson sued a Philadelphia car dealership for using the line, "Just Like 50 Says!" along with a picture of him in a Dodge Magnum print ad. In July 2007, he filed a lawsuit against an Internet ad company for allegedly using his image in "Shoot the Rapper." The banner ad shows 50 Cent walking across the top of the page while the site's visitor tries to shoot him.
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The Line That Resulted in a Lawsuit
More on the Taco Bell Lawsuit:
Jackson says he eventually received the letter but only after it was sent to reporters. The lawsuit says Taco Bell tricked consumers into thinking that Jackson was involved in the ad campaign. The letter to Jackson reads in part, "We know that you adopted the name 50 Cent years ago as a metaphor for change. We at Taco Bell are also huge advocates for change. We encourage you to 'Think Outside the Bun' and hope you accept our offer."
In 2005, Jackson sued a Philadelphia car dealership for using the line, "Just Like 50 Says!" along with a picture of him in a Dodge Magnum print ad. In July 2007, he filed a lawsuit against an Internet ad company for allegedly using his image in "Shoot the Rapper." The banner ad shows 50 Cent walking across the top of the page while the site's visitor tries to shoot him.
Comments
i think 50cent is right
I think 50 cent should keep his name and seuu the restaraunt for asking him to change his name he had it first
I think $4 million is a bit excessive for his lawsuit. Taco Bell did make an aggressive play but $4 million in damages? He didn’t seek that much against the company that actually used his image in those annoying “Shoot the Rapper” banners.
I think the shoot the rapper thign is quite hilarious.
Go Go 50!! Sue them coz what they did was awfully unprofessional & they should have known better. 50 cant just change his name like its some cloth. It takes time to build a name & Taco Bell should actually consider changing their name for just a day & see how much damage it will cause them. 50 is not merely a person he is a walking enterprise…
i think 50cents has a right to sue for a scam like that.i expected more professionalism from a company like taco bell.but i think under the right circumstances 50 cents would have consented,what wouldnt we do for 5seconds of “extra” fame.
It is important to remember that this was just a publicity stunt. Stupid, but still a publicity stunt. Taco Bell didn’t really expect 50 Cent to change his name. This is just a ploy in a big marketing machine. With the attention it’s getting, apparently it worked.
Taco Bell was in the wrong. 4 Million is not excessive because TB possibly earned 10X this amount or more by featuring 50 Cent in their ad. It would be like me putting an unauthorized picture of Kenny Rogers on my web site and then saying he loves my product!
i think that is extremely retarted and a waste of life… yah there asking u to change ur name but still there going to donate 10,000 dollars for a good cause…. its not bad to change ur name for 24 hours
Obviously 50 makes good buisness decisions. If 50 believes this 24 hour venture to donate 10g’s wasnt worth his name, who is anybody to argue? Remember Jackson got his own charity causes, maybe 4 mil will go farther than 10g’s????