We're always taking about using/not using products in our books. Seems Emerson is suing NBC for the use of their garbage disposal in a show. The young super heroine stuck her hand down it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20061005/en_tv_eo/20169;_ylt=AqJzWkaAlDQ.KunX.3eg0rRxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
On the one hand (oh - pardon THAT pun), I understand what Emerson is doing. At the very basic level, all they're doing is protecting their intellectual property.
But when you start examining their claim, it falls apart.
The lawsuit further stated that the scene "casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product" by suggesting that the appliance "will cause debilitating and severe injuries, including the loss of fingers, in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one."
I'm willing to be that their appliance will indeed cause "debilitating and severe injuries, including the loss of fingers" if you were to accidentally or deliberately stick your fingers into it. So all NBC did was to show their product working properly, although it's being misused.
Would Chrysler have a claim if they didn't like the way a PT Cruiser was (mis)used in a show? What about Glock?
And aside from anything else, I wonder how many of the 14-odd million viewers even
cared what brand disposer it was?