FROM THE DETROIT NEWS: A Jewish university that owns Albert Einstein’s publicity rights is suing General Motors Co. for the unauthorized use of the dead physicist’s image in an ad for its GMC Terrain.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem sued GM in U.S. District Court in California on May 19 for more than $75,000, accusing the automaker of fraudulently using Einstein’s image. Einstein willed his publicity rights to the university before he died in 1955.
It is the latest advertising controversy facing GM, which has struggled to perfect its marketing pitch since emerging last summer from bankruptcy court. Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre has been accused of stretching the truth in a recent commercial saying the automaker had repaid its federal loans, and its marketing team has undergone a management and creative agency shakeup in recent weeks. This month, GM has hired a new marketing guru and a new ad agency for its largest brand, Chevrolet. MORE»
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