A Different Kind Of Label

Usually when we talk about labels, we think of the epitimous fashion labels  of Chanel, Dior and Calvin Klein. Well, a lawsuit is erupting over a label of an all together different kind....read on for the drama!

Are you jacked up on you Starbucks Grande pike roast? If so, I must ask you to think about instant coffee. You know those magical coffee crystals. Ah, the wonders of science meet tap water.

Move over Betty Crocker, in 1986, model Russell Christoff posed for a Taster's Choice coffee photo shoot in Canada. No biggie, he thought. He gave permission for the photo to be used in Canada. Little did he know that Taster's Choice had other diabolical plans for the photo, and that his image would end up in I don’t know how many TV commercials, print ads and plastered on coffee cans in 21 countries, including the Latin regions where they darkened his pallid complexion and added macho sideburns so the Latino customers would better relate to his love for the delicious Taster's Choice brew. In-exofficio, Christoff wound up becoming the company’s trademark.

You see, it seems that the photo was tucked away into Taster's Choice archives after that first shoot in Canada, but was reintroduced in 1998, for wide release, when a Nestle employee was searching the archives for just the right "Taster" to portray the brand. Apparently, without consulting the model release, Nestle began using the image without Christoff's permission. After all, he was just a model, but Christoff looked like he really was digging the air brushed aroma waves emanating from the cup. It was money in the bank!

That being said, the issue ended up in court. Christoff initially won $15.6 million in damages (that’s a lot of coffee, almost as much as my companion Jimmy drinks each year),  but that claim was overturned as being “excessive,” and that it exceeded the two-year statute of limitations. Now, Christoff is back in court, arguing the verdict’s reversal should be reversed. It is a complicated legal matter, but one that could have been solved so simply, back when that employee found that image, by simply asking the model for a new release.

I’m sticking to tea.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Comments

[Ron Knoth]

Dear Paul,

It's embarrassing to have to admit it, but despite the fact that I am a college professor my spelling is atrocious.

Thanks for the catch!

So whats brewing in the Rockies?

Ron Knoth

[Paul]

Interesting story - hope the guy gets some serious coin, as Taster's Choice clearly blew it & has profited off his likelness for years.

(BTW - the word you want in first paragraph is "eponymous")