Virgin America Files Suit Over Flight 1549 Parody
Virgin doesn't have a problem mocking current events as part of its own ad campaigns. (Perhaps you saw Virgin Mobile's Eliot Spitzer-themed ad last year?) But clearly Virgin America isn't quite as happy when other people do it. The company filed a lawsuit against the advertising blog Adrants.com yesterday over a fake ad the site posted on the day Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River. The spoof (left), which appeared below the headline "The Hudson Crash: Just One More Reason to Fly Virgin," was later updated to make it clear the ad was a parody. (It was eventually removed from the site entirely, although you'll find a cached version here.) But that hasn't stopped Virgin from suing Adrants and the site's founders for defamation, trademark infringement and dilution, false designation, and false and deceptive advertising. "Virgin America deplores the fact that anyone would try to take advantage of the crash of flight 1549," the company said in court documents. (Here's looking at you, Ken Cole!) You can take a look at Virgin's full lawsuit after the jump.
Correction: We credited the Spitzer-themed ad to Virgin America; it was actually Virgin Mobile. We've corrected the error accordingly.